Is Sweet Gum A Hardwood Tree

Sapgum is widely available at low cost while redgum is more uncommon and prices can be in the mid range for a domestic hardwood with prices for figured and or quartersawn pieces costing more.

Is sweet gum a hardwood tree.

It did serve as a curative for confederate soldiers dysentery and was harvested during the second world war when asian supplies were cut off. American sweetgum liquidambar styraciflua also known as american storax hazel pine bilsted redgum satin walnut star leaved gum alligatorwood or simply sweetgum is a deciduous tree in the genus liquidambar native to warm temperate areas of eastern north america and tropical montane regions of mexico and central america sweet gum is one of the main valuable forest trees in the. The wood has a unique reddish brown color with sapwood that s nearly white and black grain running through the hardwood. A sweet gum is a deciduous tree in the witch hazel family that ranges in height from 60 to 100 feet and has a narrow oval canopy.

Timber from the sweet gum tree is a finely textured moderately heavy white colored sapwood with a light pink tint. Hmmm that s not all true. Is sweet gum a hardwood or softwood. The liquidambar styraciflua growth rate is moderate to rapid.

However it can be a pioneer tree species and will be one of the first species to recolonize an open area but if you leave succession to do its part you will see that sweet gum certainly do not take over in the long run. Such trees can grow to be as old as 400 years old and they can reach towering heights of 150 feet. Despite the world demand for liquidambar through the centuries little was done with the yield of the north american sweet gum tree. Look for the absolute straightest trunks with the least crotch wood.

It is not an invasive species. A tree can appear to have balanced weight distribution in the crown but there s no way to know how the tree has responded to that stress. Its heartwood is variable and ranges from dark brown to a lighter reddish brown. Sweet gum trees are found throughout the eastern united states.

Sweet gum is a native species to the southeast. The yellowish colored sap technically called gum in a hardwood tree is exuded from bark wounds and can actually be boiled down and concentrated into a salve that will reportedly cure skin. It s considered a valuable tree used for lumber and furniture production as well as for ornamental purposes. Sweet gum wood though has been another story.