Tree Droppings (What is this from?)

[D.Marsh]

I got one of those buggers in my front yard. The kids love to play with the seed pods. Me, I just keep finding them with my bare feet while out playing with the kids... :msp_scared: One of these days I'm going to have a stack of it along side the house. My feet will thank me, if nothing else.

 

[Fred Wright]

I sure remember that.

Sometime back in the mid 60's my sister planted a sweetgum in the front yard... some 4-H project or other, if memory serves. The thing matured and started dropping those prickly seed pods.

Mom had raked a small pile of 'em but hadn't yet cleaned 'em up. My brother was mowing and ran over those gumballs. The mower was old and had no chute deflector. They came flying out of the mower discharge like a Gatling gun and hit our father's car.

After reading my brother the riot act Pop had a neighbor cut the tree down.

 

[DTB]

Gum

I just got some gum recently and hate it. I would rather have Box Elder belive it or not.

 

[woodguy105]

The correct term for those are itchy balls. Perfect for
itchy ball fights and any other game that requires painful projectiles.

 

[CTYank]

You guys are good.

Good info.. My next question was, if my friend takes them down, should I take the wood? I've split Elm so kind of know what stringy wood is like but Elm was better than oak in the stove. So is this sweet/Red Gum good for a wood stove? :msp_biggrin:

Edit: Just noticed you're from SWCT. Me too. This picture was from my friends house in Darien.

Short answer: HELL NO. The extreme toughness of this stuff was a big factor in one tree almost killing me. Too bad, it failed. Take only pieces that don't need splitting, can be noodled, or can be ripped on a bandsaw. Else, no way. And ... "gums" in Oz are eucalypts- quite separate species, neither to be trifled with.

Actually, I'm pretty far SW in CT, up along the Byram. Nestled among hardwood stacks.

 

[Cambium]

Best thing about our sweet gum to me is the smell of the leafs when you crush em in your hand, try it

Wow. Wow. Wow. I have never smelt leaves like that and I would've never thought about doing that. so thank you for that tip. that was amazing .

 

[brenndatomu]

Wow. Wow. Wow. I have never smelt leaves like that and I would've never thought about doing that. so thank you for that tip. that was amazing .

Ok, now you have me curious. What do these leaves smell like, good, bad, what? :fart: :rose-dead:?

 

[Cambium]

Ok, now you have me curious. What do these leaves smell like, good, bad, what? :fart: :rose-dead:?

put it this way , when u crumble other leaves they smell like leaves buy this one had a.sweet smell like a flavored gum. Almost fruity. It was different and unexpected. In fact, I want to plant these on my property because of it.