Sweet gum balls or witches burrs or witches balls are the sharp, thorny protective casings that house hide the seeds of the sweet gum tree. They are also believed to hold power to break hexes, or deflect them back to the source, much like a mirror would, when appropriately used. The branches carry layers of cork. The gum has long been harvested and used for chewing gum, but it is also known to have anti-inflammatory properties. WATCH VIDEO HERE In the video, a TikTok witch explains how to use sweetgum balls, which are also known as "witches burrs" due to their supposed spiritual properties. The star-shaped leaves of sweet gum become even more striking in the autumn, when they turn various shades of gold, red, pink, and purple, often on the same tree. However, only L. styraciflua is native to North America where it has a widespread distribution across the southeastern United States. Here's a quick reference guide to the healing, magical, and metaphysical properties of more than 100 trees. Expressing a love of nature in everything we create is a top priority. According to Chineseherbshealing.com With all that wildlife enjoying the sweetgum trees I can easily get over the annoying aspect of the sweetgum seed balls. Second to that is the sweet gum. In Magical and Spiritual circles the spiney seed pods or fruits of the Sweet Gum are known as Witch's Burrs or witch balls a traditional American Hoodoo magical item. The first historical reference to the Sweet Gum tree comes from the author and soldier, Don Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who accompanied Cortez in 1519 and was a witness to ceremonies between Cortez and Montezuma, who both partook of a liquid amber extracted from a sweetgum tree. It takes the sweet gum tree 20 to 30 years to mature enough to produce its fruit. Original Price $11.00 Native Americans used an infusion of the bark medicinally for diarrhea and dysentery and also in poultices for cuts, sores, and bruises. Henriette's Herbal Homepage on Liquidambar. In addition to the sap, the leaves, bark, and seeds of sweetgum also possess beneficial compounds such as shikimic acid, a precursor to the production of oseltamivir phosphate, the active ingredient in Tamiflu-an antiviral drug effective against several influenza viruses. Original Price $8.50 Sweetgum trees are important resources for medicinal and other beneficial compounds. Send me exclusive offers, unique gift ideas, and personalized tips for shopping and selling on Etsy. Herbs are sold as curiosities only. They are very high on the list of detested trees. While you wait, the tree has much to offer. Many of the medicinal properties of sweetgum are derived from the resinous sap that exudes when the outer bark of the tree has been damaged. As an infused oil (leaves, stems, inner bark) can be used in making salves for mild aches and pains such as sore muscles. Sweet Gum Healing. You find it's magickal properties called on most commonly in american folk magick and african american hoodoo. The species name translates as flowing with gum (styrax or storax). Fill out the requested information. Consistently earned 5-star reviews, shipped orders on time, and replied quickly to messages, Looks like you already have an account! Many of the medicinal properties of sweetgum are derived from the resinous sap that exudes when the outer bark of the tree has been damaged. The five lobed star-shaped leaves often confuse people who think it may be a maple . styraciflua translates as flowing with styrax (sweet gum hence the common name). The sweet gum tree was to pioneer youth the rustic equivalent of a gum-ball machine. Click Buy it now or Add to cart and proceed to checkout. After the first part dried, I flipped the skewers and painted the other end. Yes! Sow it as early in the year as . Dawn Combs lives in Ohio with her family and is the co-owner of the herbal health farm Mockingbird Meadows, chief soda jerk at her familys unique storefront apothecary called Soda Pharm and the master formulator of their herb- and honey-based products. Liquidambar styraciflua, more commonly known as sweetgum, hazel pine, redgum, satin walnut or alligator wood is a hardwood tree native to North America, parts of Central America and Mexico. The Cherokee and other tribes used the resin to calm nervousness. $31.96, $39.95 Tell Amazon: Prevent price gouging during emergencies, What is the witching hour? The bark attaches itself to these in plates edgewise instead of laterally, and a piece of the leafless branch with the aid of a little imagination readily takes on a reptilian form; indeed, the tree is sometimes called alligatorwood. We do not recommend consumption of herbs and we are not responsible for any use of herbs . Taken internally, liquid-amber has stimulant and expectorant effects. Watercolor by Debbie Galant April 2020. . Your email address will not be published. official website and that any information you provide is encrypted The University of Arkansas on Sweet Gum extraction. Those cans of beans worked like a charm! Made into wreaths. Technical Coordinators. The American Sweet Gum branches and branchlets may have distinctive corky ridges. sweet gum ball | 83.5K views. sweet gum, (genus Liquidambar), sometimes spelled sweetgum, genus of 15 species of deciduous trees, the only genus of the family Altingiaceae. The tree has been busy growing for so many years that it hasnt really shown us much in the fall. Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) Healing, spirituality, enchantment, enlightenment, meditation, leadership and protection. Sure, sweet gum trees aren't as majestic as oaks, or as pretty as birch, or as tasty as maple (syrup anyone? Cultivated in landscapes, it is rapid-growing, long-lived, and relatively free from insect pests and disease. To enable personalized advertising (like interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. gardngrim@gmail.com Original Price $5.00 Available from: Kormanik PP. The list of value-added products derived from sweetgum trees can be increased by continued research of this abundantly occurring tree. Wenger KF. It is a kind of native balsam, or resin, resembling turpentine. Finally, I had all my components for creating chive blossoms from the sweet gum tree balls! National Library of Medicine Although it produces small clusters of inconspicuous flowers in the spring, it does not (usually) set fruit. Bark is brown to gray, very rough with deep grooves and narrow, slightly scaly ridges. In sachets. Once you have a fruiting tree, an entirely new variety of benefits is available to you. To do this, place a dollop of glue on each ball and firmly but gently press it on the wreath to ensure it adheres. Storax produced from L. orientalis, or Turkish sweetgum, is referred to as Asian storax while storax derived from L. styraciflua is called American storax. government site. About the only good thing is that they grow fast and make nice shade, but you can't even lay on the lawn under them to enjoy the shade because of all the spike balls. Many kinds of trees share this growth pattern, and they are typically fast-growing trees that often "invade" open areas (elms and willows, for example). remembering account, browser, and regional preferences, remembering privacy and security settings, personalized search, content, and recommendations, helping sellers understand their audience, showing relevant, targeted ads on and off Etsy. When cut, it exudes a sticky, resinous gum or balsam. Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies $7.22, $8.50 The tree ranges between 80 to 150 feet in height. You find its magickal properties called on most commonly in american folk magick and african american hoodoo. Learn about the many ways to use these spikey balls. It has many names, including liquid amber or copalm balsam. Many of the medicinal properties of sweetgum come from storax as well as essential oils extracted from the leaves. The magical association with protection seems to have a basis in science. We have loads of color, and Ive been enjoying some of my favorite trees as I drive around the community. It is chewed in the treatment of sore throats, coughs, asthma, cystitis, dysentery etc. They also work to ward off annoying baby brothers. $18.90, $21.00 Please enter the answer to 1 + 1 below. Its alternate, serrate, palmately lobed (star-shaped with 5-7 toothed lobes) leaves are dark green and . FOIA Storax, also referred to as styrax, is produced by damaging the outer bark of sweetgum trees. The latter is the storax tree, the Balm of Gilead, a medicinal perfume and salve important in the Middle East and mentioned in the Bible. 19. Continue adding Sweetgum balls with hot glue until you fill the interior of the wreath. It is a potent anti-fungal and an effective natural pesticide. I have 4 HEALTHY sweet gum trees in my yard, and I get some good exercise (walking) using it, saving my back, shoulders, hands, and time by NOT using a rake. No dead cats were swung around here to support my hypothesis of the prolificacy of sweet gum trees! Learn about the many ways to use these s. Archeological research of pre-Columbian Aztecs discovered evidence of a large trade of Liquidambar for incense. Now, I'll admit I had no idea what 'Hoodoo' was when I read about it along with sweet gum balls. and transmitted securely. The leaves are dark to medium glossy green and turn bright shades of red, burgandy, purple and sometimes orange or yellow in autumn. 10,000-7000 BC). To begin, trim the long stems from the Sweetgum balls. Foliage Sweetgums are notably absent from magical and herbal tree lore, which derives largely from Europe. Those spiky fruits drop on your lawn and are seemingly immune to your efforts to rake or mow them. Sweet gums are native to North America and Asia and are valued as a source of resin and timber. It takes the sweet gum tree 20 to 30 years to mature enough to produce its fruit. The perfect piece of witchcraft art for any Kitchen Witch 's, sacred space.. the kitchen ! While the Muggle version of this candy only makes the consumer feel a constant popping in their mouth, the magical version makes them float a few inches from the ground. Then hot glue the Sweetgum balls to the interior of the wreath. Original Price $4.99 ACS Omega. Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features! We have sweet gum balls E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E so many that you can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a little sweet gum seedling that recently sprouted. View all posts by Garden Grim, Your email address will not be published. sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. In the old days, youngsters throughout the rural South went to the woods, not the grocery store, for their chewing gum. It is a large deciduous tree that has a beautiful leaf pattern. The chemical breaks down into ethylene, a naturally occurring compound that sweet gum produces when under stress. Sweet gum trees have very shallow root systems and often times on older, larger trees their root systems will protrude from the top soil. October 14, 2022 by jai. 4. Darryl Patton at The Southern Herbalist suggests boiling the green balls and drinking the decoction for its anti viral properties. Thanks for sharing Your experiences! Other websites I visited, stated in a nutshell that Sweet gum tree medicinal uses when made into a balsam or salve, it is used for skin conditions, hemorrhoids, ringworm scabies and frostbite. It's a narrow but critical window. Sweet gum seed pods, though, are a different story. Liquidambar, Sweet Gum. When the tree is wounded, the inner bark produces a balsam. Eastern Remedies for Western-type diet induced atherosclerosis. Disclaimer. While you wait, the tree has much to offer. I actually only recently learned that the sweet gum balls had magickal attributes to them, and I feel I shouldn't be surprised since just about every single plant has it's medical and/or magickal properties. There are so many great uses for the Sweetgum Balls! In the same family as witch hazel, the sweet gum tree is uniquely american. Storax has medicinal uses dating back to the Aztec Empire during the Paleo-Indian Period (ca. Twigs are reddish- or yellowish-brown becoming gray, aromatic, often with corky wings on second-years growth; pores raised, dark. It may also have been used as an insect-repellent, although other botanical sources were more effective. I'm planning on digging out the topsoil in the low spot (and use it for gardening elsewhere on my property), and I'll rake my plethora of sweet gum balls to fill the hole. Dont see this option? They tend to be Pyramidal shaped when young, oblong to rounded when mature. The American Sweet Gum female flowers give way to the infamous gum balls, hard, spherical, bristly fruiting clusters to 1.5" diameter. The many spiny fruits, however, can be a messy problem for high-traffic areas, and on sloping sidewalks they can even create hazardous footing. Sweet gum is also a larval host plant for the beautiful luna moth. Extracts from sweetgum seeds have anticonvulsant effects, which may make them suitable in the treatment of epilepsy. Sweet gum is a large tree with a long, cylindrical trunk, pyramidal crown, and corky wings on branches and twigs. As an ornamental tree, the species has a drawbackthe branches may have ridges or wings that cause more surface area, increasing weight of snow and ice accumulation on the tree. Careers. There is even piles of salt in windowsills. http://www.ntfpinfo.us/docs/other/VirginiaTech2001-SweetgumFactsheet.pdf, http://hort.ufl.edu/database/documents/pdf/tree_fact_sheets/liqstya.pdf. First, I snipped off the stems of the gum tree balls with craft scissors. Gum Tree. server | 760 views, 30 likes, 119 loves, 97 comments, 63 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Densu: Free Rank Up in Khmer Server ABA: 004570720 ID:1443589 Boiling the inner bark in water effectively removes the balsam and produces storax. Healing Depression and Raising the Spirits, Physical Healing, Protection from Legal Difficulties, Transitions, Happiness and Joy, Masculine/Feminine Balance, Clarity, Divine Harmony, Healing, Purification, Boundaries, Getting Stuck Energy Moving, Strength, Healing, Protection, Purification, Spiritual Refreshment. Personally, I am surrounded by Sweet Gum Trees and I am looking forward to working with them medicinally in the near future. From it they pried off, then popped into . In addition, another ingenious use of gum balls is for a low breast milk supply. Bookshelf Sweet gum is a popular landscaping tree, though the many spiny fruits can be a problem for high-traffic areas. Before Native Americans also used storax for medicinal purposes, including controlling coughs and dysentery and treating sores and wounds. Using the burs in an alternative way. The Euroamerican settlers adopted many of the Indian uses for sweetgum, either through observation of native practices or discovered independently. Pick the painful things up with a Bag-A-Nut Harvester, and use them for some interesting things as described in this video.www.baganut.comBag-A-Nut Sweet Gum Ball Harvester Models:https://baganut.com/collections/pick-up-sweet-gum-ballsHere are a couple of really good Youtube videos on the subject of Sweetgum Balls and Tamiflu:Feral Foraging: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDLKWZ0bizIGreg Carter Outdoors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plrLsbr12dU0:00 Intro0:06 Should I Cut Down My Sweetgum Ball Tree?0:15 How To Pick Up Sweet Gum Balls0:24 What Do You Do With Sweetgum Balls?0:31 Sweetgum balls and Tamiflu (flu remedy)?0:57 Using Sweetgum Balls As Mulch1:18 Burning Sweetgum Balls1:39 Are Sweetgum Balls Poisonous For Me Or My Dog?2:04 Can I Sell My Sweetgum Balls Online?2:10 Sweet Gum Balls Crafts. We are dedicated to planting trees all over the world! Share Tweet. Get started on your magical practice today! It easily takes on staining, painting and is moderately easy to shape and bore. The neighborhood was never the same after that, it still saddens me that anyone would destroy of a tree of such magnificent size and beauty. [Last accessed on 2014 Feb 11]. They are perfect. The sweet gum is certainly making a valiant effort to persuade me. Your email address will not be published. Sweet gums sticky sap rapidly seals over bark wounds, drying and forming a protective scab, and the flow of the sticky, aromatic stuff can deter burrowing insects and herbivores. Silva AT, Bento CM, Pena AC, Figueiredo LM, Prudncio C, Aguiar L, Silva T, Ferraz R, Gomes MS, Teixeira C, Gomes P. Molecules. In Kentucky, the tree is found throughout the state, but is scarce in the Bluegrass and on alkaline soils generally. 6. I might change my mind about which tree I love the best in fall. According to the USDA plant database (plants.usda.gov), I like. Take full advantage of our site features by enabling JavaScript. Location: Zone 9, CA. The plant was used to treat colic, internal diseases and to comfort the heart.. In the European timber markets it is known for some unknown reason as satin walnut. Noteworthy Characteristics. Please note, comments must be approved before they are published. . For magic, people use stuff like black cat bones, graveyard dust, fingernail clippings. Though they can be murder on bare feet if they fall before softening, these brown spiky balls are popular in arts in crafts and also, apparently, in magic. eCollection 2019 May 31. Captcha failed to load. For the best chance of stopping the sweetgum balls, hire a certified arborist. Try contacting them via Messages to find out! p.s. As with the resins of pine and the milky latexes of dandelions and ficus plants, sweet gum's sticky sap rapidly seals over bark wounds, drying and forming a protective "scab," and the flow of the sticky, aromatic stuff can deter burrowing insects and herbivores. 4005. However, the wood is heavy and hard with an interlocking grain, but is difficult to season. I never thought picking up those darn gum balls would be so much FUN!. The PubMed wordmark and PubMed logo are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Join our Green Witch Living Loyalty Program, GWL Rewards. Like Noah suggested, you can always throw them in your compost for some much needed brown material. The first formal appearance of the tree in botanical literature was in the first Spanish-language Mexican herbal in the late 16th Century. Louisiana man drop dead moments after calling woman a Voodoo n*gga b*tch! Other possible uses would be in a fertility charm or spell, to protect the mother and child, or to be strung on a garland and placed on a mantle or altar. The American Sweet Gum non-showy, monoecious, yellow-green flowers appear in spherical clusters in April-May. The sweet gum trees we have are quite tall and very prolific. The list of value-added products derived from sweetgum trees can be increased by continued research of this abundantly occurring tree. Then, the flowers drop, preventing the balls from ever forming. Liquidambar styraciflua HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. Sweet gum balls or witches burrs or witches balls are the sharp, thorny protective casings that house hide the seeds of the sweet gum tree. Set where you live, what language you speak, and the currency you use. ECOSYSTEM CONNECTIONS Sweet gum wood is commercially used for electronic . But even more fascinating than the fact that crafters are willing to actually pay money for "gum balls" is their apparent use in Hoodoo. So after their early, dramatic leafing-out in spring, that's it; after that, only buds to overwinter for next year are produced. Truthfully, it is probably my favorite fall color. 3 Fizzing Whizzbees Make People Levitate. Sweetgum trees are important resources for medicinal and other beneficial compounds. Learn more. Externally, it is applied to sores, wounds, piles, ringworm, scabies etc. Spring Flowers of the Sweet Gum Tree - Liquidambar . This site needs JavaScript to work properly.

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