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martinca_gw

Pretty leaves on mystery volunteer

It looks so familiar, but we have nothing on our property like it.
We're in coastal So. Ca. Any ideas??
TIA !

Comments (11)

  • Embothrium
    9 years ago

    Sweetgum.

  • martinca_gw sunset zone 24
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Oh yes!! We do have liquidambers nearby...what they're called out here.
    I adore them. It's the very best tree we have for glorious autumn color.
    The volunteer is a little bedding plant about one foot tall . I will dig up and put in a pot until big enough to plant in yard.
    Rate my chances, please, along with any advice..
    Thank you , bboy.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    I will dig up and put in a pot until big enough to plant in yard.
    Rate my chances,

    ==>>> ummmmm ... its growing nicely in mother earth.. why would you pot it.. an attempt to love it to death???

    mark it with some bright string or some such ... and when the leaves fall off... dig a new hole where you want it... then dig the plant out... just one shovel full .... and move it ...

    99% odds of success IMHO ...

    but you will be responsible for all water next year ... and a good mulch cover will help ....

    by potting... and mind you i learned this the hard way ... you add the following variables.. each one.. you are able to screw up:

    media
    watering
    winter storage
    black pots in winter sun leading to early dormancy
    winter watering
    etc.. etc... etc ...

    most trees have and need a dormancy [we arent discussing areas where trees may not have such] ... thats why the leaves fall off on deciduous trees ...... and once you pot things.. its just so easy to mess them up ... so go with what it prefers ... as a self sown seedling ...

    all plants are movable.. and trees are best done.. when dormant.. so there is less stress.. trying to save the leaves... and its root growing time.. when there are no leaves... especially in your temperate area .... as such.. it ought to come out of your version of winter.. ready to take off like a rocket ...

    finally ... its a free sown tree... it should never need food ... though its immature.. it is not a baby ... just give it proper water.. and it should be all set ...

    good luck

    ken

  • hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
    9 years ago

    Invasive roots in So Cal. Be careful where you plant it. Not close to house or any pavement.

  • zzackey
    9 years ago

    It's a messy tree. It drops lots of seed balls. About the size of a half dollar.

  • lucky_p
    9 years ago

    IMO, one of the least desirable of trees. I will admit, some have great fall color.

    Liquidambar is, however, a contributor to hydrocarbon air pollution.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Liquidambar - heinous polluter

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    9 years ago

    From a CBS article I read. "A forest of 10,000 of the trees emits perhaps 22 pounds of hydrocarbons an hour - the equivalent of spilling a dozen gallons of gasoline and allowing it to evaporate, according to an estimate by the University of California Cooperative Extension."

    Interesting. Thanks for making me read up. I only vaguely remembered the Reagan quote. Guess all them oaks in the Ozarks are damaging my air quality. My commute today was as bad as six large sweetgums!

  • arktrees
    9 years ago

    Lets see..... 10,000 Sweetgums, or 10,000 cars.......... a hydrocarbon emission that has been present for geologic time scale....... or one that has been present for just over a century........ one source consumes other pollutants.......... the other source creates emits, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, CO2, cyclic aromatic compounds, etc etc.

    GIVE ME THE DAMN TREES!!!!

    BTW, toronado, that figure works out to just about 1 gram (28.35 grams per ounce) per tree an hour. I'm sure more than that leaks from most car gas tanks.

    Arktrees

    This post was edited by arktrees on Wed, Sep 17, 14 at 7:23

  • ctnchpr
    9 years ago

    ...and, they're a host plant for Luna moth cats.

  • lucky_p
    9 years ago

    Ark,
    You can have the sweetgums. Give me oaks or hickories, thank you.

  • arktrees
    9 years ago

    FWIW Lucky, I would rather have Oaks and Hickories over most sweetgums as well. They are not my favorite trees by any means. However the article you posted was overstating the evidence, and over reaching in it's conclusions. I was trying to provide perspective. No ones need feel guilty for wanting to plant a sweetgum if that is what they like, any more than I for the White Oak I will soon be planting in a neighbors yard. Or the Caddo Sugar Maple, American Elm (DED resistant selection), or the Kentucky Coffee tree.

    Arktrees