The Ugly, Painful, Marvelous Truth about Sweetgum Trees

If you have a sweetgum tree in your yard, you have been like me at least once and left the yard in a crazy, cursing fit. The mess in the yard from the sweetgum balls, the painful way you step on one and almost twist your ankle, the volunteers popping up everywhere. But rather than cursing it, you should be grateful you have a sweetgum tree.

In spring, the sweetgum provides a source of nectar for the ruby-throated hummingbird and other nectar feeders. You also might be surprised to learn that sweetgum is a host plant for more than 30 species of butterflies and moths. This list includes two of our largest and most stunning moths, the luna and promethea.

The spiky seed pods from the sweetgum tree are not only fascinating to look at, they can actually help out in the garden.

1. Lay the seed pods around young plants to deter snails and slugs.

2. Put them around plants that you want to protect from rabbits.

3. Use them as mulch.

4. Use them in the bottom of planters as the drainage filler instead of stones.

5. If you have hard, compacted soil that you are trying to amend, dig deep and place a thick layer of the seed pods down to help aerate and drain--cover back up with soil and other amendments.

The sweetgum tree has both medicinal and nutritional applications. The seeds, sap, and leaf buds are all edible, with the seeds containing the most calories and protein. Break apart the large green pods to uncover small, aromatic seeds. Rub the seeds to free them from their outer shell. These seeds are wonderful raw or can be ground down into a powder for use as flour. You can also chew these seeds after a meal to help with digestion. The seeds contained within all those spikes are anticonvulsant and have possible applications for epilepsy. The young leaf buds can be eaten raw, as well, for a tasty snack.

The Sweetgum’s spike ball fruit can take 30 years to appear, but while you wait, you can use sweetgum sap to fight inflammation, bacteria and fungus. Sweetgum sap has amazing medical properties when dried and made into a tea or tincture. The sap has been used for centuries to treat common ailments such as skin problems, coughs, and ulcers. The sap, for which the tree is best known, can be collected from the cambium and dried for use as a fragrant, bitter chewing gum which will actually freshen the breath. In fact, sweetgum resin was used to flavor chewing gums up into the 1920s. Despite its name the gum is not sweet. It’s called Sweet Gum to separate it from a different species altogether, the Black Gum, which is extremely sour and bitter. “V” shaped cuts are made into the cambrian layer of bark and over the next few days the sap can be collected. This sap has shown to contain compounds that function as anti-cancer, antimicrobial, antiviral, cough suppressant, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperactivity, anit-convulsant, liver strengthener, wound healer, and immune system inflammation suppressant. Extracts from the sap have shown promise in fighting drug-resistant bacteria and hypertension. The sap of the sweetgum tree was burnt as incense or mixed with tobacco leaves as a sedative as well as used in the making of soaps, cosmetics, fixatives in perfumes, adhesives, and lacquers. Resin from the sap of Sweet Gum tree is used to help clear the lungs/sinuses, have somewhat antiseptic properties, and can be used to treat scabies.

Many other cultures are known to have used the Sweetgum tree bark for numerous health and dermatological reasons. The bark has anti-cancer, antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. It was used by the Cherokee Indians to strengthen the liver and immune system and to heal wounds. Both the Powhatan and Cherokee Indians utilized dried bark mixed with bark of Red Oak to make an infusion used to treat dysentery. They would boil the inner bark in water and them press it to obtain a substance called storax. Storax is an oily resin (balsam) obtained by scoring the bark of the tree. The damage caused by this scoring would produce storax. More recently, storax has proven to be a strong antimicrobial agent even against multidrug resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Storax has medicinal uses dating back to the Aztec Empire during the Paleo-Indian Period (ca. 10,000-7000 BC). The ancient Aztecs collected the boiled down, grayish-brown, sticky, opaque liquid and used it as a treatment for skin infections and other ailments. Native Americans used an infusion of the bark, or the storax, medicinally for diarrhea, coughs and also in poultices for cuts, sores, and bruises. Recent references from organic websites have noted that the inner bark of sweetgum, boiled with milk, can relieve diarrhea.

Cherokee made a tea out of the bark as an herbal treatment for the flu. The bark, leaves, and infertile seeds of the sweetgum contain a chemical called shikimic acid, which is the primary ingredient in Tamiflu, a flu medicine used today. Just like pine needles I mentioned in a previous blog, Sweet Gum bark and leaves have shikimic acid, but the highest concentration is in the infertile seeds. The difference between fertile and infertile sweetgum seeds is that fertile sees are black with wings on either side and infertile seeds are yellow and wingless. Shikimic acid works against the flu virus because it inhibits the protein that allows viruses to break out of infected cells. In this way, the virus is unable to reproduce which both shortens the duration of the infection and shortens/lessens the symptoms of the infection, which are often deadlier than the virus itself.

In addition to storax, the oil from the leaves of the sweetgum tree is also believed to possess antimicrobial properties against both bacteria and viruses. The leaves contain natural antibiotics and were used to pack wounds. The leaves of the plant can be mashed or crushed into a poultice to release these antibiotic compounds for use as an antibiotic or relief for insect bites and stings. The leaves can also be chewed into a poultice instead of being crushed for direct application to wounds, burns, and bites.

At one time, the tree's twigs were even used as toothbrushes. Historically, in parts of Appalachia twigs would be soaked in water or brandy and then utilized to clean the teeth.

Here's my favorite use for this magnificent medicinal beast:

Sweet Gum Ball Tincture

1.) The green balls need to be broken open with a hammer, mallet or axe. Fill a glass jar with the broken balls.

2.) Add alcohol to the jar to make the tincture. Add 80-120 proof clear alcohol, such as vodka or everclear to the jar. Store the jar in a dark place for at least 6 weeks.

3.)Strain the tincture and put it in a dark amber bottle.

The sweet gum ball tincture can be taken to prevent the flu by taking it daily during flu virus season to help your immune system fight off the influenza viruses and other infections. One teaspoon a day is a suggested dosage. It can be taken with hot water or tea.

Take a teaspoon every 3-4 hours when affected by a virus or symptoms such as sore throats. The sweetgum ball tincture paired with another natural treatment of elderberry syrup should be effective treatments to get through the time of year that brings flu season. Tea and/or alcohol extracts like the one mentioned above have traditionally been flu treatments in several different cultures.

Good luck!