Poisonous Sweet Gum Tree Balls

You painfully find them with your feet.

Poisonous sweet gum tree balls. This means that only one tree is needed for the flowers to be pollinated and a single tree can produce the spiky fruits even when another sweet gum tree is not in sight. The vicious seed pods have impaled many a forager and has done much to ruin the sweet gum s reputation. Although they may look like prickly little seeds sweet gum tree balls are actually the fruit of the tree. Inside each spiky ball are up to 50 tiny winged seeds.

And don t try to run your lawnmower over them lazy landscaper warns as when airborne they are as dangerous as grenades as demand has plummeted for the sweet gum some national nurseries like stark brothers nurseries responded by offering a hybrid sweet gum tree billed as nearly gumball free but even that was not enough to sustain demand for the increasingly despised sweet gum and stark brothers has stopped carrying sweet gums altogether. They are also believed to hold power to break hexes or deflect them back to the source much like a. Draw up tightly to form a circle and tie a knot then form a loop for the hanger. Using a 1 16th inch drill bit drill a hole completely through each gumball.

Despite these nuisances we always slow down to take a look and to collect the unusual alien balls we always end up with pockets full and fists bulging because they really are just amazing things to study. Indeed the sweet gum tree s seedpods are used in magick and spiritual work for protection but also more than just for that. The only edible part of the tree is the dried sap which makes a fragrant bitter chewing gum. But in flu season they re also a source of homemade tamiflu.

The tree develops clusters of fuzzy green flowers that turn into spiky balls which are actually the seedpods of the tree. Perhaps it is time for some rehabilitation. The dried seedpods fall to the ground and create hazards for walkers. String the balls on either a piece of heavy nylon fishing line or a piece of beading wire.

When the spikes open the seeds are. The spiky gum balls of the sweet gum tree are annoying to anyone who steps on them. Despite its name the gum is not sweet. It is fairly common to see them drink more when they are nauseous.

As a monoecious plant a sweet gum bears male and female flowers. The gum seed pod are not toxic but that can be very irritating to the stomach and esophagus.