January’s Native Maryland Plant
Liquidambar styraciflua
(li-kwid am-BAR sty-RAS-i-FLU-a)
Common Name: Sweetgum
Some plants (and birds) get no respect. Liquidambar styraciflua is one of these plants and turkey vultures are one of those birds. Sweetgum is a medium to large size, moderate to rapidly growing shade tree that is very common across Maryland, especially in the Coastal Plain region where it often pioneers in old fields and riparian areas. It is a forest tree that has adapted a tolerance to many different soil and site conditions, including occasional flooding; it has a high resistance to insects, is not browsed heavily by deer, and is a nitrogen fixing plant¹.
Its alternating, glossy, 5-lobed leaves have a distinctive star-like shape, emit a sweet fragrance when crushed, and turn many colors in the fall, ranging from yellow to shades of orange, red and even dark purple. Its seeds are enjoyed by many birds including finch, mourning dove, towhee, and grosbeak. The tree develops a taproot, making it less susceptible to wind, and it seldom grows more than a single leader trunk and is valued as a hardwood for its use as lumber. So, what’s not to like?
Liquidambar styraciflua is monoecious, it has both male and female flowers that bloom in the spring. As the female flowers mature, they turn hard and brown and develop a spikey exterior - and then drop to the forest floor. The seed husks make the tree undesirable in many residential landscapes since these husks, aka ‘gumballs’, can clog a lawnmower, take years to decompose (not viable in a compost), and in the worst case their sharp spines can puncture your skin or act as rollerblades in your lawn, causing you to slip or even fall.
Now let’s talk turkey - turkey vulture, that is. Turkey vultures are common sights on roadways where they’re always looking for their next meal. Their lack of respect may be because they lack head feathers and eat roadkill, or possibly, it’s simply a lack of understanding. The absence of head feathers is an adaptation that allows them to gorge on carrion with minimal cleaning afterwards; they eat roadkill because they’re the only scavenger birds that can’t kill their prey.² Their claws may not be as impressive as an eagle’s, but their beak is a superior tool, able to rip open a deer hide. However, their most unique attribute is their potent stomach acid, which allows them to eat rotting carcasses, even diseased animals. They are extremely beneficial birds that remove decaying animals from our environment and prevent the spread of disease to other animals, including humans.
I won’t be planting a Liquidambar styraciflua anytime soon, nor will I be putting out food for vultures – but I am very happy to know they’re out there, keeping our soil healthy and preventing the spread of disease, respectively.
¹ Improve soil by taking nitrogen from the air and depositing it around their roots.
² Black vultures are known to be predatory and may kill small sick or injured animals.
Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013
Watershed Steward Class 7/CBLP