4th pic amur maple ???

4th pic amur maple ???

Hi aspin111 I see you're brand new here, welcome!
No big deal, but you have done what many of us have done when we were new here, and that is post multiple threads for what should be one thread. What you can do is post your 2nd, 3d, and 4th pics as if you were answering your first post, so they will be connected together in one thread, and we all won't get confused. Then, use the "contact us" link at the bottom of the page and ask the nice folks who run things here to delete numbers 2, 3, & 4.

I think the larger tree you're calling a sweetgum is a Red Maple. But if you can get your pics on one thread, it will be easier for one of the more knowledgeable people to tell you for sure.
Mike

Thanks for the advice and welcome mike. I see what you are talking about, on the single tread. and next time i will do that.. Yea others has posted the same response.. Red maple it is.... I thought it was... other people around here maybe thought it was a sweet-gum... Thanks again .... . .. . . . Greg

For clarity's sake - your picture on this thread is Amur maple (Acer ginnala).

As for separating similar species, an easy way to narrow the field is by looking for leaf arrangement first. Opposite versus alternate is a great starting point, and maples are the poster children for opposite foliage. Your picture above shows that clearly and stunningly well. The leaves occur opposite each other on the stem. When the leaves drop, you'll see that the buds occur right where the leaf used to be attached, and they'll be opposite too (great winter ID feature).

Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) will be alternate in arrangement, despite the leaf looking like it could be a maple.

Sweetgum and maples do look the same at first glance.

BTW both of those trees are very fast growers in your area and spread like weeds. Sweet gums if not native would be considered invasive around me. Same with maples and wax myrtles.

Sorry if your native to the area but many poeple from the north move down here and seem to want to plant maples. They get all excited the next year because they grow so fast and then a few years later they're pulling seedlings out of every where. LOL.

I have to say sweet gums have very nice fall color.

Thanks for all the input guy's.... Found this last night on the sweet gum tree.. And yes Core both seam very plentiful around here.. I was ride down to St.marys yesterday and notice thousands of sweetgum trees along the sides of the roads. They were mainly seen at places that were pretty wet.. none on dryer hills... As for the maple's seen a few but not as many
Vibur, The point about Opposite and Alternate truly is a great starting point. I know now and thanks again !!
Does anyone have any info. on wax myrtles ? I'm sure they are all around me, but don't know what they look like ???????
AGAIN,,,,, I FOUND THIS INFO.. LAST NIGHT ON THE SWEET GUM.. THOUGHT IT WAS KINDA INTERESTING SO I COPYED AND PASTED IT... COULDENT PAST THE PIC THOUGH....



Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)

The sweetgum is also known as redgum, star-leaved gum, alligator-wood, and gumtree. It occurs on moist to wet, acidic soils and is commonly found in swamps and near ponds and streams.

Sweetgum is second in production only to oaks among hardwoods. The wood is used as flooring, furniture, veneers, home interiors, and other lumber applications. The wood is also used as paper pulp and to make baskets. Pioneers once peeled the bark and scraped the resin-like solid to produce chewing gum.

Sweetgum is a favorite landscape tree due to its


Twigs and leaves
beautiful, glossy leaves, brilliant fall color, and because it makes a good shade tree. Sweetgum is easily recognized by its star-shaped leaves and its woody, spiny, ball-like fruit.

This member of the Hamamelidaceae family is found from the southwestern part of Connecticut to central Florida, west to Texas and north to Southern Illinois.



Identifying Characteristics
Size/Form: Sweetgum is a large tree that reaches 80' to 150' in height. It is characterized as having a buttressed base with a pyramidal or oval-shaped crown.
Leaves: The deciduous leaves are alternately arranged and star-shaped with 5 to 7 deeply palmate, pointed lobes. Each leaf is a shiny dark green above and paler below with small hairs. The leaves are unpleasantly aromatic if crushed or bruised. In autumn, the leaves turn red, orange, yellow, and purple.
Fruit: The persistent fruit is a woody head of two-celled capsules. Each capsule contains two tiny, black seeds. When they fall, they become the spiny balls that clutter lawns. The fruits mature in autumn and persist on the tree throughout winter.
Bark: The bark on the sweetgum tree is gray and deeply furrowed, separated by narrow scaly ridges. After the second year the twigs often develop two to four corky projections of the bark, which give them a winged appearance.
Habitat: Sweetgum grows in moist soils of valleys and lower sloped areas. This tree may also be found in mixed woodlands. Sweetgum is a pioneer species, often found after an area has been logged or clearcut.