Two American Sweetgums
November 8, 2025
trees, observations | permalink
Last week, I was talking to neighbors JM & CM as they were doing some yard work, and JM pointed out an American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) on my property as we were talking about the various trees around. I hadn't noticed it before amongst all the thistle, but it was about five feet tall. It's between the two hickories I planted last August that did not survive. It must have grown a lot in the past year, because I didn't register it when putting in the hickories. Then yesterday, I found another, about the same height, on the southern-facing hillside, just behind a boxwood.
We're near the northern edge of its native region. Nice to find another native, particularly without having to do the work to put it in myself. However, in the three sources I read about it from (Wikipedia, USDA Plants Database, and the Arbor Day Foundation), there was no mention of it being a host plant to lepidoptera species, which is somewhat unusual. The Arbor Day Foundation page had the most information on its benefits to wildlife, stating "American sweetgum seeds are eaten by eastern goldfinches, purple finches, sparrows, mourning doves, northern bobwhites and wild turkeys. Small mammals such as chipmunks, red squirrels and gray squirrels also enjoy the fruits and seeds."
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