If you’ve ever walked past a tree with star-shaped leaves and those spiky little “gum balls” all over the ground, you’ve probably met the American sweetgum. It goes by a bunch of old-fashioned names—American storax, redgum, bilsted—but most people just call it sweetgum. It’s a big, showy tree that’s common in the southeastern U.S., and it’s also planted in lots of neighborhoods and parks because it turns incredible colors in the fall.
Sweetgum has been known for centuries; early naturalists wrote about the fragrant resin it produces—something like a natural, amber-scented sap that people once used for medicine or even as a kind of chewing gum. The wood is useful too: smooth, reddish, and great for plywood and even chopsticks.
What really makes sweetgum unforgettable, though, are its looks. The leaves are like glossy, pointed green stars that blaze into purples, reds, and oranges when the weather cools. And of course, there are the famous (or infamous) spiky seed balls that drop by the dozens. Love them or hate them, they’re part of the tree’s charm—and a big reason many of us recognize sweetgum from walks or just dodging the “spike balls” on the sidewalk.
如果你曾經經過一棵長著星形葉子、地上散落著許多有尖刺的圓型口香糖的樹，那你很可能看過北美楓香樹。它有很多名字——美國蘇合香，褐松樹，紅糖香樹，緞胡桃樹，星葉香樹，鈍吻鱷樹——但大多數人還是習慣叫它楓香樹。這是一種高大艷麗的樹木，在美國東南部很常見，而且由於它在秋季呈現出令人驚豔的色彩，因此也被種植在許多住宅區和公園裡。
楓香樹的歷史可以追溯到幾個世紀以前；早期的博物學家就曾記載過它分泌的芳香樹脂——一種類似天然琥珀香的樹液，人們曾用它來當藥，甚至當作口香糖咀嚼。楓香樹的木材也很有用：光滑、呈紅褐色，非常適合製作膠合板，甚至可以用來製作筷子。
然而，真正讓楓香樹令人難忘的，還是它那獨特的外型。它的葉子如同閃亮的尖尖的綠色星星，在天氣轉涼時會綻放出紫色、紅色和橙色的光芒。當然，還有那些著名的（或臭名昭著的）帶刺種子球，它們成群結隊地落下。無論你喜歡或討厭它們，它們都是楓香樹魅力的一部分——也是許多人能在散步，或者只是在人行道上躲避這些「帶刺的種子球」時認出楓香樹的重要原因。
Notes 筆記
- American sweetgum is also known as American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood, or simply sweetgum. It is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree.
- The earliest known published record of Liquidambar styraciflua appears in a work by the Spanish naturalist Francisco Hernández, published posthumously in 1615, in which he describes the species as a large tree producing a fragrant gum resembling liquid amber—hence the genus name Liquidambar.
- Sweetgum is one of the most common and important commercial hardwoods in the southeastern United States and is also a popular ornamental tree in temperate climates.
- Its wood is bright reddish brown and may have darker streaks in the heartwood. It is heavy, straight-grained, satiny, and close-textured, but not strong. Although it takes a beautiful polish, it warps badly during drying. Sweetgum is one of the principal hardwoods used by plywood manufacturers. The wood is also used to make chopsticks for the East Asian market.
- Sweetgum is recognizable by its five-pointed, star-shaped leaves (superficially similar to maple leaves) and its hard, spiked fruits.
- The leaves usually have five (but sometimes three or seven) sharply pointed palmate lobes. They are typically 3–5 inches wide and turn brilliant yellow, orange, red, and purple in autumn.
- The flowers are small, greenish, and inconspicuous. The tree is monoecious: male flowers occur in catkin-like clusters, while female flowers form small globose heads. These appear in spring. It is not the flowers but the developing fruit balls that persist into autumn and sometimes into winter.
- The distinctive compound fruit is hard, dry, and globose, about 1–1.5 inches (25–38 mm) in diameter. Each spherical fruit is composed of numerous (40–60) capsules, each bearing one or two seeds, and each capsule has a pair of terminal spines (for a total of 80–120 spines). Fallen fruits are often abundant beneath the trees and are popularly nicknamed “burr balls,” “gum balls,” “space bugs,” “sticker balls,” or “spike balls.” Goldfinches, purple finches, squirrels, and chipmunks eat the seeds.
- The tree’s aromatic resin has many names, including liquid amber, American storax, or copalm balsam. It is a native balsam resembling turpentine and may be clear, reddish, or yellow, with a pleasant, amber-like scent. The resin exudes naturally or from cuts in the trunk and hardens with age—the form in which it was historically exported in barrels. Sweetgum resin was used medicinally and was also traditionally chewed like gum.
- 美洲楓香樹又稱美國蘇合香，褐松樹，紅糖香樹，緞胡桃樹，星葉香樹，鈍吻鱷樹，或簡稱楓香樹。它是一種中型至大型落葉喬木。
- 已知最早的關於北美楓香樹的出版記錄出現在西班牙博物學家弗朗西斯科·埃爾南德斯（Francisco Hernández）的著作中，該書於 1615 年在他去世後出版。書中他將該物種描述為一種大型喬木，能產生類似液態琥珀的芳香樹膠－因此得名楓香樹。
- 楓香樹是美國東南部最常見、最重要的商業硬木樹種之一，也是溫帶氣候下很受歡迎的觀賞樹木。
- 它的木材是亮紅棕色，心材中可能帶有較深的條紋。它重，紋理筆直，表面光滑細膩，但不強大。雖然拋光後光澤亮麗，但在乾燥過程中容易嚴重變形。楓香木是膠合板製造商使用的主要硬木之一。這種木材也被用來製作銷往東亞市場的筷子。
- 楓香樹的葉子呈五角形與楓葉相似，果實堅硬帶刺，容易辨認。
- 葉片通常有五個（有時是三個或七個）尖的掌狀裂片。它們通常寬 3-5 英寸，秋季變成亮黃色、橙色、紅色和紫色。
- 花朵很小，呈綠色，並不顯眼。這種樹是雌雄同株：雄花簇生於類似柔荑花序的花序中，雌花則形成小的球狀花序。這些花序在春季開放。並非花朵本身，而是正在發育的果實球會持續到秋季，有時甚至到冬季。
- 這種獨特的複合果實堅硬、乾燥，呈球形，直徑約 25-38 公釐（1-1.5 英吋）。每個球形果實由許多（40-60個）蒴果組成，每個蒴果內含一到兩粒種子，每個蒴果末端有一對刺（總共 80-120 根刺）。掉落的果實常常大量散落在樹下，人們親切地稱之為「刺球」、「口香糖球」、「太空蟲」、「黏球」或「尖刺球」。金翅雀、紫翅雀、松鼠和花栗鼠都以這些種子為食。
- 這種樹的芳香樹脂有許多別名，包括液態琥珀、美洲蘇合香或柯巴脂。它是一種本土香脂，類似松節油，顏色可以是透明的、紅色的或黃色的，並散發出令人愉悅的琥珀香氣。樹脂會自然滲出或從樹幹切口處流出，並隨著時間的推移而硬化——歷史上它就是以這種形態裝在木桶中出口的。楓香樹脂曾被用作藥用，傳統上也像口香糖一樣咀嚼食用。
References 參考資料
- Wikipedia: Liquidambar styraciflua
- 維基百科: 北美楓香樹
Plants Posts 植物的帖子
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