Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Natural object: Sweetgum pod

I’ve always liked these. The seedpod from the sweetgum tree, Liquidambar styraciflua. They are persistent; this one, one of a whole host, only recently (probably in our recent heavy snow) brought to earth. Each cavity contains many tiny seeds, which provide food for songbirds, chipmunks, squirrels, and couple things we don’t see much of in Brooklyn: wild turkey and bobwhite. Surely the Death Star would have been more impressive if it been shaped like this and not a perfect sphere?

The sweetgum is so named, commonly and binomially, because of its tasty sap. Hardened clumps of it have been chewed as gum. Has anybody out there ever tried it?  It’s a Southern species, and this, Brooklyn, is about it’s northern-most range. This photo was taken on the southern end of Prospect Park Lake on Friday.

mthew

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5 responses to “Natural object: Sweetgum pod”

  1. Melissa

    Nice. I posted recently on Manhattan Sweetgum pods after seeing what a post-snowstorm workout they get as eyes, noses & buttons for snow people. They have good nicknames, too, among them porcupine eggs, monkey balls and space balls. Not good for barefoot walkers, but we city folk don’t have to worry too much about that.

    Reply
  2. Lisa

    These pods remind me of this:

    http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/celestine_sox/celestine_sox.html

    Reply
  3. Jim

    I love to read B&B! Don’t leave home without it!

    Reply
  4. Sweetgum Fruit « Backyard and Beyond

    […] which are now long since emptied of their seeds. A native tree, and a regular on our sidewalks and parks, the species is more common in the South. Its star-shaped leaves are quite distinctive and can be […]

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  5. Liquidambar | Backyard and Beyond

    […] styraciflua):but smaller and with much longer points; these are evidently persistent styles. (The pods look rather Goth after they have opened up and dried out.) Also, the leaves are three-lobed: Our […]

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