Sweetgum
Sweetgum (Liquidambar straciflua), also called Redgum, Sapgum, Starleaf-gum, or Bilsted, is a common bottomland species of the south where it grows biggest and is most abundant in the lower Mississippi Valley. This moderate to rapid growing tree often pioneers in old fields and logged areas in the uplands and Coastal plain and may develop in a nearly pure stand. Sweetgum is one of the most important commercial hardwoods in the southeast and the handsome hardwood is out to a great many uses, one of which is veneer for plywood. Birds, Squirrels, and chipmunks eat the small seeds. It is sometimes used as a shade tree.
Fruiting heads often remain on trees over winter. Fair seed crops occur every year and bumper crops about every 3 years. The staminate and pistillate of Sweetgum is monoeciouse. The small, greenish flowers bloom from march to early May, depending on latitude and weather conditions. Both the staminate and pistillate flowers occur in heads. The staminate inflorescences are racemes; the solitary pistillate flowers are globose heads that that form the multiple head, 2.5 to 3.8cm in diameter, of small, two-celled capsule. The lustrous green color of the fruiting heads fades to yellow as maturity is reached in September to November. The beaklike capsules open at this time, and the small winged seeds, one or two per capsule, are then readily disseminated by wind. However, the seed balls can be safely collected for seed examination several weeks before ball discoloration occurs without harming the seed. Empty flowers are quit sensitive to cold and often damaged by frost.
Few data are available on the early development of natural stands of sweetgum throughout its broad range. The limited, earlier data indicate that that workers were not aware of the tendency of sweetgum to regenerate from root sprouts that originated from suppressed root buds. Stand disturbances thought to produce ideal seedbed conditions were actually optimum conditions for suppressed bud release and subsequent root sprout development. A South Carolina Coastal plain area thought to have successfully regenerated with sweetgum seed trees was later found to be regenerated primarily from root sprouts.
The importance of root sprout formation with sweetgum regeneration is evident from observations made in natural stands of mixed pines and hardwoods in Georgia Piedmont that have been logged for sawtimber. In most of the stands examined, advance reproduction of sweetgum was clearly evident, accounting for 10 to 60 percent of all hardwood production.
Reproduction and passing on genetic and behavioral traits to an offspring is a common fundamental to all the species on this planet. When studying forest ecology, it is crucial to study the proportion of individuals surviving at each stage of their growth as the lives and mortality experienced in a species population describes a characteristic of the species in question. In the case of American beech and sugar maple, their attempt to produce seeds is analogous to entering lottery, where every seedling has a potential chance of becoming a canopy but only some will survive and reach the canopy size; thus, becoming the fit ‘winners’. Our information shows that together, based on size class distribution, both the species display a ‘winner takes all’ pattern, which supports our hypothesis. The results showed a greater count for seedlings and short saplings than for tall saplings, sub-canopies and canopies. This is evident for a Type III survivorship curve. In Type III curve all individuals initially having a very low chance of survival. However, once the individuals pass their threshold age and survive, they live an advanced age. Only some individuals out the mast seeding production mature to become fully fit canopy trees. On the other hand, our hypothesis of canopy trees representing the bulk of the biomass was supported as the basal areas decreased going from growth stages of canopy to seedlings. This is evidence that once the individuals survive the bottleneck where there is high mortality of young individuals (seedlings), who are then considered as ‘losers’, will allow for the other larger size class individuals to flourish. Here, having considerable amount of dbh (diameter at breast height) accounts for greater surfac...
Each of these Pennsylvania evergreen species provides a variety of resources unique to their own species. Whether it be producing timbe...
Have you ever wondered who invented bubble gum, or why it’s pink? How do you go about getting the answers to these questions? Easy. Think way, way back, not to prehistoric times but close, 1928.
The American chestnut was not only an important food source for almost all living organisms of the Eastern, North America, but it was very important in providing housing and furniture and numerous other wooden necessities. The tree possessed rot resistant properties and strait grained wood which were valuable in buildings and many other applications. Its enormous trunk rose one-hundred feet into the canopy of the forest. Diameters of five feet have been recorded and many photos of the tree show greater trunk girths. The tree was able to produce its eatable fruit within seven years of germination. It was said to be truly treasured by early Americans.
...ong, and shorter stalks are 20-100mm long. The flower length from the axils are one to three centimeters long. The optimum flowering time is from May through August. The fruit are pod shaped with seedlings coiled into two to three spirals with a strong net vein three to four millimeters long (montanaplant-life.org).
...le would be more than that of American beech because sugar maple produce more seeds than American beech. Furthermore, we study whether the two species co-exist via reciprocal replacement, habitat preference or merely by chance. We believe that habitat preference may be the mechanism of coexistence here and therefore we hypothesize that there will be more American beech tree neighbors as they may represent the most biomass as per our third hypothesis. Thereafter, root sprouting is effective in American beech to give them a greater horizontal growth than sugar maple. Hence, we hypothesize that sugar maple canopies will be less asymmetrical than American beech. Finally, because a nearby canopy may restrict a tree canopy growth in the same direction, we hypothesize that a tree will grow its respective canopy away from its neighboring canopy to receive maximum sunlight.
Opening the refrigerator door, I locate two ingredients: eggs and butter. Grabbing the ingredients, I place them on the island sitting vertically in the middle of my rectangular kitchen. I then walk around the island to a cabinet to find baking powder and vanilla extract. Scanning and searching through all the spices and other items, I see the desired components. Finally, I walk across the kitchen to a cabinet standing high on my tippy toes because the protruding countertop makes the cabinet hard to reach. In this cabinet, I find the flour and sugar. I examine all of the goods on the island. The ingredients needed for a sugar cookie recipe, I have made countless times for the last five years.
Flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) and Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) can easily be grown from seeds, however budding has more advantages. Budding is quicker and usually gives a much better yield than propagating from seeds. And if you propagate a flowering dogwood using seeds, the plant will almost always be white, even if you plant a pink or red dogwood seed. Grafting is done to get the pink or red coloring by grafting the variety Cornus florida rubra onto a Cornus florida stock. Budding is usually preferred o...
In this story the trees developed just like the characters. They are sitting around talking when Turtle says the word “beans”. Taylor thinks that she says the word “bees” but doesn’t realize that Turtle is looking at the wisteria vines. “Will you look at that, ‘I said. It was another miracle. The flower trees were turning into bean trees”(194). When one gets to this point it is close to the end when every character is finding their place. They are still developing but it’s not as messed up as it was in the beginning. Just like the trees they first start out as a seed and at some time they will become mature enough to produce what they are supposed to
Franklin, J. F., et al. (1981). In Ecological Characteristics of Old-Grow Douglas Fir Forest, (GTR PNW-118). Retrieved July 9, 2005, from USDA Forest Service Web Site: http://
It reproduces sexually, at about 15 years (Jones, 1967), growing to 27 m tall with diameters to 1 m (Pavek, 1993). Southwestern white pine seedlings root to about 20.3 cm in the first year which increases their survival under drought conditions (Jones, 1971). In one study, the height of seedlings was an average of 33.8 inches at about 6 years of age (Jones, 1971) and in another study, 2 year old seedlings were 10.2-20.3 cm tall (Heit, 1973). The Southwestern White Pine typically occurs in low densities in Southwestern pine, mixed-conifer, and spruce-fir forests, most likely to be dominant in high-elevation cool habitats and may be present as a minor component in riparian community types in South-central Arizona and in the mountainous riparian woodland zone of Southwestern Colorado (Pavek,
of the fruits are grown on trees and possess seeds that are sealed in the inner layers of the fruit.
Not only maple trees have been tapped for syrup. The Birch and Elm trees have been used for syrup, but the maples produce a much sweeter sap than any other tree. "What is more peculiar is that the sap, unlike nectar, does not come from the leaves (they
- Soil/land difference: According to Girvetz, the soil in Oregon and Washington are inferior for growing these trees.
For pollination necessary to set fruit, normal seed types must be interpolated with seedless melons. The pollinator should be distinct from the seedless cultivar in color, shape or type so that the seedless and seeded melons in the patch can be separated at harvest. Because seedless types do not put energy into seed production, the flesh is often sweeter than normal types and the vines are noticeably more vigorous as the season progresses.