SWEET GUM. 
31 
From the form of a single tree, it is not to be concluded that the Sweet 
Gum generally branches at so small an elevation. When confined amidst 
other trees, its trunk, like that of the Oak, the Elm and the Poplar, is per- 
fectly straight and of an uniform size to the height of 30 or 40 feet, at 
which it begins to divide itself into branches : in these situations it is usu- 
ally from 1 to 2 feet in diameter. As the sweet Gum is profusely multipli- 
ed, it is often fouhd on soils unpropitious to its growth. On dry and gra- 
velly land, its height does not. exceed 15, 20 and 30 feet, and its secondary 
branches are covered with a dry and flaky bark, of which the plates are 
attached by the edge, instead of the face as on other trees. 
The Sweet Gum is garnished with fine foliage, which changes to a dull 
red with the first autumnal frosts, and falls soon after. The shoots upon 
which the young leaves appear in the spring are smooth and of a yellowish 
green color. The leaves vary in size from 3 to 6 inches, according to the 
vigor of the tree and to the situation of the leaf, being larger and less deeply 
palmated on the lower branches : they are alternate, petiolâted, and divi- 
ded into 5 principal lobes : in this last particular, they bear some resem- 
blance to the leaves of the Sugar Maple and the Norway Maple, from 
which they differ in having the lobes deeper and more regularly shaped, 
and in being finely denticulated at the edge. It should be remarked also 
that, at the birth of the leaves, the back of the principal rib is surrounded 
by a small tuft of red down. In warm weather, a viscous substance ex- 
udes from the leaves of such of these trees as grow upon dry grounds ; 
when bruised, they exhale a sensible, aromatic odor. 
The barren and fertile flowers are borne by different branches of the 
same tree. The fertile flowers are not conspicuous, and the barren ones 
are in oval aments an inch and a half in length. The fruit is globular and 
bristling with points ; when arrived at maturity, it is about an inch and a 
half in diameter, and is suspended by a flexible pedicle, 1 or 2 inches long : 
the globes, which are green at first and afterwards yellow, are composed of 
a great number of closely connected capsules. At the beginning of 
autumn these capsules open and give liberty to the seeds, which are small, 
blackish, oblong, compressed and surmounted by a wing. Each capsule 
containis one or two seeds united with a great number of minute bodies 
incapable of germination, resembling oaken saw dust. 
The trunk of the full grown tree is covered with a deeply furrowed bark, 
not unlike that of several species of Oak. Sweet Gums are found of the 
the same size and on the same soil, some of which have a large proportion 
of sap and only 5 or 6 inches of heart, while others consist principally of 
perfect wood, with only a thin layer of sap. The heart is reddish, and 
when sawn into boards it is observed to be transversely marked at consid- 
erable distances with blackish belts. This wood is compact and fine grain- 
ed, and is susceptible of a bright polish. Though inferior in strength to 
