Leaf guide › Other hardwoods
Sweetgum
Liquidambar styraciflua
A glossy, star-shaped leaf that can turn every fall color at once, late in the season.
- Fall color
- PurpleRedOrangeYellow
- Turns
- Late
- Leaves
- Alternate (one per spot)
- Size
- 4–7 in. across
- Found in
- Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Appalachians, Midwest
How to recognize it
- Five to seven long, pointed lobes arranged like a star.
- Finely toothed edges and a glossy surface.
- Crushed leaves smell sweet and resiny.
- Spiky round seed balls (“gumballs”) hang on the tree and litter the ground.
Where to find it
Look for it in bottomland forests and old fields, and as a street and yard tree across the Mid-Atlantic and South. Its spiky round seed balls are hard to miss underfoot.
Where you’ll see it this fall
Sweetgum is one of the main trees in the fall color at these destinations. Dates are the typical peak.
Alabama: Birmingham (Nov 5)
Georgia: Atlanta (Nov 2)
Maryland: Baltimore (Oct 31), Ocean City (Nov 7)
New Jersey: Cape May (Nov 6)
North Carolina: Charlotte (Nov 2), Raleigh (Nov 3)
South Carolina: Greenville (Nov 1)
Tennessee: Knoxville (Oct 31), Nashville (Nov 2), Chattanooga (Nov 2), Memphis (Nov 4)
Virginia: Richmond (Nov 2)
Easy to confuse with
Worth knowing
Sweetgum is one of the last trees to color in the Mid-Atlantic and South, often peaking in November with purple, burgundy, orange, and yellow on a single branch.
Common questions
What color does sweetgum turn in fall?
Sweetgum can turn purple, burgundy, red, orange, and yellow, often all on the same tree or even the same branch.
When does sweetgum change color?
Late. It’s one of the later trees to color, often after the maples have passed peak, and in the South it can peak in November.
How can you tell sweetgum from red maple?
Red maple: Maple leaves grow in pairs and have three main lobes. Sweetgum leaves alternate along the twig and look like stars. Sweetgum: Five to seven long, pointed lobes arranged like a star.
Where does sweetgum grow?
In the lower 48, look for it in the Mid-Atlantic, the Southeast, the Appalachians, and the Midwest.
See where the color is peaking today.
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