Is Sweet Gum A Soft Or Hardwood Tree

Sapgum is defined by the national hardwood lumber association as lumber produced from the sweetgum tree as containing sapwood in excess of the quantity admitted in the grades of red gum lumber.

Is sweet gum a soft or hardwood tree. Trees are the backbone of any good landscape plan. Such trees can grow to be as old as 400 years old and they can reach towering heights of 150 feet. Trees vary in height the shape of their canopies type of foliage fall color flowers or fruit as well as other. Facts on the sweet gum tree.

Despite the world demand for liquidambar through the centuries little was done with the yield of the north american sweet gum tree. 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. 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. As you learned earlier sweet gum is easily identifiable as it comes from a tree that produces star shaped leaves that contain five points along with spiked fruit.

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. Timber from the sweet gum tree is a finely textured moderately heavy white colored sapwood with a light pink tint. It did serve as a curative for confederate soldiers dysentery and was harvested during the second world war when asian supplies were cut off. Red gum lumber is considered a specialty product and not quoted in the market reports.

Its heartwood is variable and ranges from dark brown to a lighter reddish brown. Sweet gum wood though has been another story. Is sweet gum a hardwood or softwood. The gums are an important part of the eastern hardwood forests and are found throughout the southeastern u s.

Hmmm that s not all true. It is not an invasive species. Sweet gum is a native species to the southeast.