# New tree for me- Sweet Gum (maybe)



## David Hill (Apr 12, 2016)

One of my neighbors a little while back told me that the nice tree he had in his yard was a blowover. He'd cut/ stacked it for future burning, asked if I was interested-- instant Heck yeah!! Seems he's ready to flame it--'round here ya don't delay if they tell you they're ready to burn.
Today I cut this off the stack after I finished clinic- it's already spalted nicely, been down - 6 mos..
If it is Sweet Gum it's the first I've had access to.
Nice trunk pieces for bowls, platters,etc. Kept straighter trunk sections for a hollowing rig that needs a workout.

Reactions: Like 2 | Way Cool 3


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## DKMD (Apr 12, 2016)

I haven't turned a lot of sweetgum, but I've loved every piece I've turned. It moves quite a bit when it dries, and it seemed fairly prone to cracking around any little inclusion or knot hole. Looks like a great haul!

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## JR Parks (Apr 12, 2016)

David, I wouldn't have thought you would have sweetgum let alone a big gum ( for central Texas) in Cuero. But it does look promising. Jim

Reactions: Like 1


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## David Hill (Apr 12, 2016)

@JR Parks -- hmmm-- will research that ID. Will ask & see what it looks/smells like when I get it home.


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## Nature Man (Apr 13, 2016)

Congrats! Looks very promising for a bunch of projects! Chuck

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Tony (Apr 13, 2016)

Too cool David!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## ironman123 (Apr 13, 2016)

You lucky Cueroian. Use it sparingly and share with us if you wish David. I have some pen blanks cast with sweetgum balls. Let us know how the wood turns.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Kevin (Apr 13, 2016)

The bark is spot on for SG. It doesn't surprise me to know it grows there it's one of the more prolific species across the southern regions - it grows almost everywhere. Whenever my wife and I went to FL last year I noticed sycamore and Sweetgum the whole way there and back. Both trees always just jump out for me from among others. The wood is a nightmare to dry for lumber. I had to pull out a bar top I made for a friend after a couple of years because it went apey even after I'd dried it in the kiln. It can beautiful stuff though and has many different colors and grain patterns.

David this will be of interest to you and @DKMD but especially you David since you have probably prescribed a bunch of it - Tamiflu gets it active ingredient from the seeds of Star Anise tree from China. About 10 years ago there was a sudden and critical shortage of the seeds so pharmaceutical companies started looking for other sources of the ingredient, and they found it in the seeds of the Sweetgum pods. So every time you guys write a prescription for Tamiflu remember you're adding to the demand for another sharp pointy sweetgum ball to be collected off the ground.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 3


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## DKMD (Apr 13, 2016)

Those damn gum balls aren't good for much else! My folks had one in the yard when I was growing up, and those balls would jam up the wheels on the push mower all the time... In some ways, sweet gum balls are responsible for developing the four-letter portions of my vocabulary.

Reactions: Funny 3


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## David Hill (Apr 14, 2016)

Mystery solved---I think
After much searching on the web and questions-- Seems the owner was "told" it was a Gum tree, but things didn't fit--like it would have small purple fruit that the birds really liked. Not Persimmon--my first thought--but not hard enough-- what got the ID was the description of some thorns--Believe it to be Chittamwood/Gum Bumelia/False Buckthorn (lots of common names)--_Bumelia lanuginosa_.
Still the wood is attractive and ought'a make some pretty stuff & be unique (I'd never heard of it before & been in outdoor Texas all my life).


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## Kevin (Apr 14, 2016)

I'd like to see some flat grain.


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## Dennis Ford (Apr 14, 2016)

Sweet Gum is very soft when wet and not all that hard when dry. Gum Bumelia is a hard dense wood, should be easy to tell them apart.


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## JR Parks (Apr 14, 2016)

David,
I have worked some - flat but not turned - it has some very interesting grain and is nice when spalted. Definitely hard as Dennis says. When you see the tree it looks kinda like a live oak with some thorns.


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## JR Parks (Apr 15, 2016)

@David Hill @Kevin Guys here is a pic of spalted gum bumelia in a box top. It has a wonderful spalt looking like cloud calligraphy. All of my spalted pieces are like this. David -It will be interesting to see haw yours play out.

Reactions: Like 1 | EyeCandy! 1


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## Kevin (Apr 15, 2016)

David is chittamwood tree supposed to be the same thing as a chittum tree a.k.a smoketree? I do not think it is but don't know. That is not wood from a chittum tree based on what little color I see on the end grain. It's why I was asking for a pic of the flat grain.


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## JR Parks (Apr 15, 2016)

K,
If I may butt in for David- not the smoke tree but the problem is they share the same colloquial name of chittam. From the Tex A&M tree site:


Gum Bully 
Sideroxylon lanuginosum 

Secondary Names: 
Gum Bumelia, Gum-Elastic, Woolybucket Bumelia 


*Leaf Type:* Deciduous 
*Texas Native:* 
*Firewise:* 





Tree Description: 
A medium-sized tree, typically to 40 feet tall and a trunk to 12" in diameter, with short, stout, stiff branches that form a narrow, oval crown of dark green foliage. The twigs are often armed with straight spines.

Range/Site Description: 
Occurs throughout Texas, except in the High Plains and far West Texas, usually along streams, in sandy woods, or in open areas or fencerows.

Leaf:
Simple, alternate, 2" to 4" long and 0.5" to 1" wide, obovate in shape, leaf edge smooth; leaves are dark green and shiny above, woolly-hairy underneath, and are often grouped near the ends of short spurs along the branches.

Flower: 
Small, five-petaled, white flowers appear in early summer, each borne on a hairy flower stalk about 0.2" long.

Fruit:
A fleshy, black, oblong berry, 0.5" to 1" long, borne singly or in a cluster of 2 or 3; usually dry and firm on the outside, containing a light brown, firm, rounded seed.

Bark:
Dark brown to grayish, developing tightly interlacing, flattened ridges and deep furrows on older trunks.

Wood:
Light brown, streaked with white, and surrounded by a band of lighter colored sapwood. The wood is heavy, hard, and close-grained, sometimes used for tool handles or cabinetmaking.

Similar Species:
Saffron-plum (Sideroxylon celastrinum), or la coma, occurs in South Texas and has leaves 1-2" long with smooth undersides.

Interesting Facts:
The colloquial name, "chittamwood" has been given to several tree species, including gum bully, and refers to the wood used to make the biblical Ark of the Covenant.

Reactions: Informative 2


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## gvwp (Apr 19, 2016)

David Hill said:


> Mystery solved---I think
> After much searching on the web and questions-- Seems the owner was "told" it was a Gum tree, but things didn't fit--like it would have small purple fruit that the birds really liked. Not Persimmon--my first thought--but not hard enough-- what got the ID was the description of some thorns--Believe it to be Chittamwood/Gum Bumelia/False Buckthorn (lots of common names)--_Bumelia lanuginosa_.
> Still the wood is attractive and ought'a make some pretty stuff & be unique (I'd never heard of it before & been in outdoor Texas all my life).




By the owner being told it was gum and you saying it produces a purple fruit the birds like Sour Gum comes to mind. Wood is very similar to the Sweet Gum. Leaves turn a bright red early in the fall. One of the first trees to turn. I am speaking of here in Indiana anyway. Not sure about Texas.


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## David Hill (Apr 19, 2016)

I'll go slab a piece once the weather settles here, for now it's on my trailer under a tarp----patience!


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## Vern Tator (Apr 26, 2016)

Ohhh good luck with Sweet Gum. I grabbed a lot of it a few years back, Hauled it to the shop and roughed out 25-30 bowls. Then when it was dry
it gave 29 of the blanks to the guy who take my scrap for firewood. I got 1 blank out of the lot, I won't waste my time on it again. I hope you have
better luck than I did. I couldn't figure out how come I was the only guy grabbing the wood when I got it, now I know.


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