For an instantly elegant Christmas decoration, arrange a small string of white Christmas lights in a large glass vase filled with sweet gum balls. Yeah, I giggled a little inside at the search terms. The sweet gum got its name for … Find out about composting gumballs here. No need for the scientists to gather the pointy ornaments though. Feb 10, 2018 - The spiky gum balls of the sweet gum tree are annoying to anyone who steps on them. Sweet gum is a larval host plant for the beautiful luna moth. It … This listing is for 24 high quality Sweet Gum Balls You will receive hand selected, high quality sweet gum balls from the many native Sweet Gum trees on our property, Each seed pod is naturally dried and then gathered and collected by me at our home in southwest Louisiana. Botanically the Sweet Gum is Liquidambar styraciflua. But in flu season, they’re also a source of homemade Tamiflu. Sweet Gum Spur. It makes sense to find the Formosa Sweet Gum in the moist regions of Washington and California, as well as Texas and Florida. I have four stunted (on purpose) sweetgum trees on my farm, I harvest the green stickerballs and chop them in halves. Sweet gum seeds are eaten by many species of birds, including goldfinch, purple finch, sparrows, mourning doves, wild turkey, northern bobwhite, and wood duck, as well as by squirrels and chipmunks. On our typical route, there are 3 trees that bear these weird little balls. When cut, it exudes a sticky, resinous gum or balsam. Sweet gum balls (yes the annoying ones on sweet gum trees) are actually a good source of shikimic acid, the active ingredient in Tamiflu! The tree has nasty balls that fall and litter the ground beneath its branches. It’s a primary tree, growing to heights of 60-100’. They even rolled the sap into balls and placed it in their dog's noses as a treatment for distemper. If it is Sweet Gum it's the first I've had access to. It can be used by a homeowner but hiring a certified arborist might be a better solution. Sweet Gum Balls. It takes the sweet gum tree 20 to 30 years to mature enough to produce its fruit. Sweet gum is a deciduous, forest-dwelling tree, growing as high as 150 feet, the tree is covered with rough, gray bark; but the branchlets are reddish-brown and often have corky ridges. These are hard and bur like. With no link to or description of this practice. The infertile seeds found in each of the sweet gum’s compound seed capsules are a naturally occurring source of shikimic acid, one of the main ingredients in the manufacture of Tamiflu. Keep the tree producing the balls! Another of the very best bonsai trees for beginners, the Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) is a member of the family Altingiaceae. Sweet gum bark and leaves also have some of this acid in them making them a good poultice for skin wounds as well but the highest concentration of the acid is in the seeds.. Bigdtc , … I make sweetgum tincture with the unripe fruits like my ancestors did. The internet is full of homegrown techniques to extract this valuable chemical from the trees seeds. Stored seed requires 1 - 3 months stratification and sometimes takes 2 years to germinate. Leaves are 3-6” in length and width on a petiole roughly the same length, and star-shaped. The leaves turn pretty in the fall reminding me of a Maple. I would love your opinion on a foundation planting tree that I could use in front of a tall and hot front window facing south in Conway. ... Tamiflu gets it active ingredient from the seeds of Star Anise tree from China. The sticky or gummy sap of sweet gums serves a purpose for the tree. There are hundreds of tiny seeds inside a sweetgum ball. The Sweet Gum’s spiky “gum balls” hang conspicuously from the tree’s smaller branches, sometimes all winter. Goldenseal is a broad spectrum antibacterial. Tamiflu is a universally known flu medication that is proven to shorten the duration and severity of flu symptoms. We chewed the gum that comes on the trees and we made ear rings from the balls … These woody balls are in fact compound seed capsules. Sweetgum balls are anything but sweet but the prickly fruit of sweetgum trees. Sweetgum. Another alternative for you is to cut down the offending tree and plant a fruitless sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Rotundiloba’) in its place. Chemically, it’s known as oseltamivir phosphate, and is made from the seed pods of the Chinese Star Anise tree… which happens to be a close relative of Sweetgum. Sweet gum branches make great little tooth brushes. (lick-wid-AM-bar sty-rass-ih-FLOO-uh. Sweet Gum is becoming well loved in the herbal community because it is known as an amazing ingredient in cold and flu formulas. Its the fruits that I am interested in because they are a source of shikimic acid which is the active ingredient in medicines like Tamiflu®. Sweet Gum Tree Advice. In this article I will tell you all the key facts about what a Sweet Gum Tree is, from basic growth characteristics to whether Sweet Gum is a good choice for landscaping your yard. That’s right, green sweet gum balls can be made into a tincture that can help kill viruses in your body. These balls are what we are interested in! You can read more about the specifics in Green… Pandemic Diaries. Sweet Gum trees are large (60-75′) deciduous trees native to North America that are commonly used in landscaping or street trees. Propagation of Sweet Gum: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. Sweet Gum Healing. The sweetgum is a member of the witch-hazel family, and has a history of much medicinal use by Indians, settlers and Civil War soldiers. The tree is called a gum because once the rosin was used in making chewing gum. Debbie Galant. December 30, 2017. It is called sweetgum to distinguish it from the black gum (or sour gum) tree, which is extremely sour and bitter. Harvest the seed capsules at the end of October or November, dry in a warm place and extract the seed by shaking the capsule. That’s right, these green sweet gum balls can be made into a tincture that can help get rid of viruses in your body. The most interesting compound that comes from this tree is shikimic acid which is a main ingredient in the commercial manufacture of the drug, Tamiflu®. They are a source of shikimic acid, which is the active ingredient in pharmaceuticals like Tamiflu®. The Sweet Gum grows very well in moist clay soil, specifically. I include goldenseal, poke root, cayenne, rue, sweet clover, and wormwood in this category. The trees’ spike ball fruit is almost as telltale for identification as the star-shaped leaves. "Sweetgum tree could help lessen shortage of bird flu drug ATLANTA, March 29 - The sweetgum tree grows widely throughout the country and is known for its mace-like green fruit, which are sometimes called "gumballs." Snipper is an injectable product that de-balls a sweetgum. It kills more gut flora than antibiotics. The brown seed pods also have a bit of shikimic acid, but nowhere near as much as the green ones do. But maybe this year will be different. ... which is used as an antiviral both in herbal medicine and in commercial drugs like Tamiflu. They can trip an old person causing a fall. Bark is gray and deeply furrowed, developing about 10 years […] The last category is potentially poisonous herbs, ones we only in extreme situations, to ward off death. Alcohol extracted Sweet Gum balls ; The infertile seeds found in each of the sweet gum’s compound seed capsules are a naturally occurring source of shikimic acid, one of the main ingredients in the manufacture of Tamiflu. It is one source of shikimic acid from which tamiflu is made. Most people want to know how to get rid of the tree, keep it from fruiting, or if you can compost sweetgum balls. So, there's much to be said for research into modern medicinal uses of this tree. However, the search is long overdue; we’ve taken hundreds of walks in our neighborhood and have run into the same patches of ‘spiky balls’ countless times. Currently there is a low growing Japanese maple but I would love some shade and relief from the sun.The tree would actually be in the front flower bed, but the bed is deep so there is room for a medium sized tree. But in flu season, they’re also a source of homemade Tamiflu. My arborist said that the sweet gum tree is one of the best air scrubbers in the Houston, Texas area. But they hate the seeds or sweet gum balls with their spiny projections that form on the tree every year. The internet is full of homegrown techniques to extract this valuable chemical from the tree’s seeds." While you wait, the tree has much to offer. I sort through all of the They found a way to make it in a lab. Feb 10, 2018 - The spiky gum balls of the sweet gum tree are annoying to anyone who steps on them. Sweet Gum Tree - Eat The Weeds and other things, too Its right up there with Elderberry Tincture and Oregano Tincture . It contains shikimic acid in its infertile seeds; the same ingredient found in the Star Anise tree (which was used to create Tamiflu). You just take a piece and shred up th end use like any other toothbrush but works best with a combo of salt and baking soda. That's what we used when I was a kid. 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