Sweetgum
Sweetgum (Liquidambar straciflua), also called Redgum, Sapgum, Starleaf-gum, or Bilsted, is a common bottomland species of the south where it grows biggest and is most abundant in the lower Mississippi Valley. This moderate to rapid growing tree often pioneers in old fields and logged areas in the uplands and Coastal plain and may develop in a nearly pure stand. Sweetgum is one of the most important commercial hardwoods in the southeast and the handsome hardwood is out to a great many uses, one of which is veneer for plywood. Birds, Squirrels, and chipmunks eat the small seeds. It is sometimes used as a shade tree.
Fruiting heads often remain on trees over winter. Fair seed crops occur every year and bumper crops about every 3 years. The staminate and pistillate of Sweetgum is monoeciouse. The small, greenish flowers bloom from march to early May, depending on latitude and weather conditions. Both the staminate and pistillate flowers occur in heads. The staminate inflorescences are racemes; the solitary pistillate flowers are globose heads that that form the multiple head, 2.5 to 3.8cm in diameter, of small, two-celled capsule. The lustrous green color of the fruiting heads fades to yellow as maturity is reached in September to November. The beaklike capsules open at this time, and the small winged seeds, one or two per capsule, are then readily disseminated by wind. However, the seed balls can be safely collected for seed examination several weeks before ball discoloration occurs without harming the seed. Empty flowers are quit sensitive to cold and often damaged by frost.
Few data are available on the early development of natural stands of sweetgum throughout its broad range. The limited, earlier data indicate that that workers were not aware of the tendency of sweetgum to regenerate from root sprouts that originated from suppressed root buds. Stand disturbances thought to produce ideal seedbed conditions were actually optimum conditions for suppressed bud release and subsequent root sprout development. A South Carolina Coastal plain area thought to have successfully regenerated with sweetgum seed trees was later found to be regenerated primarily from root sprouts.
The importance of root sprout formation with sweetgum regeneration is evident from observations made in natural stands of mixed pines and hardwoods in Georgia Piedmont that have been logged for sawtimber. In most of the stands examined, advance reproduction of sweetgum was clearly evident, accounting for 10 to 60 percent of all hardwood production.
Grelen, Harold E. May Burns Stimulate Growth of Longleaf Pine Seedlings. New Orleans: Southern Forest Experiment Station, 1978.
Poulson, T. L., & Platt, W. J. (1996). Replacement patterns of beech and sugar maple in Warren Woods, Michigan. Ecology, 1234-1253.
These are very difficult questions for me personally to answer because I live in the Pacific Northwest, and I have seen the beauty of the old growth forests first-hand.
The plots, blackberry rambles, pine barrens, and spacious groves of great eastern forest was an ecological kaleidoscope of garden chestnut, hickory, and oak…Early European explorers marveled at the trees that were spaced so that the forest “could be penetrated even by a large army”… English squatters encountered forested
Let’s talk about the characters in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and their various personalities. Alan Bradley’s character portrayal in the book is generally in strict accordance to the social values and beliefs during the period of time the story is set in. His characters reflect the realistic, British people of the 1950’s. However, Flavia de Luce, the main character, is, in a way, the stereotypical rebellious protagonist, and one of the only characters in the book whose traits do not follow the traditions of the time. Flavia’s bold personality and “tomboy-ish” ways do not match the prim-and-proper behaviour expected of women at the time.
Have you ever wondered who invented bubble gum, or why it’s pink? How do you go about getting the answers to these questions? Easy. Think way, way back, not to prehistoric times but close, 1928.
Many old-growth forests across the landscape of northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan contain a mixture of tree species rather than a monoculture. Many researchers have put forward ideas to explain the competition and co-existence of tree species in such communities. A theory explaining competition and co-existence between two species is gap regeneration. Gap regeneration is when a gap is created upon death of a plant individual and a new individual, sometimes of the same species as died and sometimes not dependent on environmental heterogeneity, takes its place (Kenneth Lertzman). Canopy gaps during gap regeneration can be explained by either reciprocal replacement or habitat preference . In a reciprocal replacement, seedlings of one species would be found predominately under large trees ...
When settlers first came to the New World forests covered a large per cent of the land. The forests all had a wide range of trees and bushes in them. The "primeval forest" or the first forest Europeans came into contact with had been changed by many acts of nature such as floods, hurricanes, and flood. Actions of Native Americans also had a hand in changing forests. Such forests included redwood forests, which were home to huge redwood trees, mossy forests, and swamp forests.
Not only maple trees have been tapped for syrup. The Birch and Elm trees have been used for syrup, but the maples produce a much sweeter sap than any other tree. "What is more peculiar is that the sap, unlike nectar, does not come from the leaves (they
In Virginia 2009, was a young first grade girl who just moved from Georgia. One of the first sights she saw were the fragile honeysuckles. The first day at her new school was surprisingly, amazing. She made new friends and one of them even invited her to the boy scout trail where everyone had adventures. The honeysuckles were there again and this girl would always remember that moment of being truly happy after moving. I have always loved the environment them so many years ago. The aroma a honeysuckle emits is heavenly, making it take me back to those happy and confusing memories. My friend took me to the boy scout trail,during recess would go to the boy scout trail and we would see the cattails and the stream with it’s calm manner. Not only
In North America, the Indians chewed spruce tree resin, a practice that continued with the European settlers who followed. In the late 1840s, John Curtis developed the first commercial spruce tree gum by boiling resin then cutting it into
of the fruits are grown on trees and possess seeds that are sealed in the inner layers of the fruit.
It reproduces sexually, at about 15 years (Jones, 1967), growing to 27 m tall with diameters to 1 m (Pavek, 1993). Southwestern white pine seedlings root to about 20.3 cm in the first year which increases their survival under drought conditions (Jones, 1971). In one study, the height of seedlings was an average of 33.8 inches at about 6 years of age (Jones, 1971) and in another study, 2 year old seedlings were 10.2-20.3 cm tall (Heit, 1973). The Southwestern White Pine typically occurs in low densities in Southwestern pine, mixed-conifer, and spruce-fir forests, most likely to be dominant in high-elevation cool habitats and may be present as a minor component in riparian community types in South-central Arizona and in the mountainous riparian woodland zone of Southwestern Colorado (Pavek,
Did you know the real reason bubblegum’s original color was pink is because when Walter E. Diemer was looking for a color to put in the gum, the only color around the factory was pink? (Ament, 2007) Also, what is bubblegum and why can you blow bubbles with it? The properties of the gum cause and make it possible for the gum to stretch and form a bubble.
First, a tree begins life as a tiny seed embedded in the Earth, but with time and nourishment it grows. I too, started life as a small sapling and continued to grow. Along with growth, roots begin to develop. Roots are essential for a tree’s survival. They provide the tree with nutrients in order for it to survive, just as my mother provided me with nutrients and instilled in me skills I use today. The development of roots requires time and dedication. The tree must be exposed to sunlight and water. Sunlight gives the tree energy, and water saturates the roots forming them deeply. Deeply formed roots are able to stand throughout all the effects and actions of nature/environment. My roots are my faith and my mother. Simply having a relationship with Christ stimulates root growth. The full development of my roots occurs when I have devoted my time to saturate them by studying His word and dep...