Sweetgum trees produce yellowish-green flowers in the spring that turn to seedpods that look like gumballs. These seedpods have spikes but are not dangerous unless stepped on. Sweetgum wood is a dark color often used for furniture, lumber, speaker cabinets, and doors. Native Americans named this tree sweetgum because they chewed on its hard clumps of resin or sap. To get to this sap, they would pull the bark off the tree and wait for the sap to harden. This tree is also used in fragrances and medicines. Storax in the sap is believed to be an antibacterial and have wound healing abilities. The leaves, bark, and seeds are also used in antiviral drugs and antiinflammatory medicines. It is believed even today that there is no end to the medicinal benefits of the Sweetgum Tree.
Sweetgum trees produce yellowish-green flowers in the spring that turn to seedpods that look like gumballs. These seedpods have spikes but are not dangerous unless stepped on. Sweetgum wood is a dark color often used for furniture, lumber, speaker cabinets, and doors. Native Americans named this tree sweetgum because they chewed on its hard clumps of resin or sap. To get to this sap, they would pull the bark off the tree and wait for the sap to harden. This tree is also used in fragrances and medicines. Storax in the sap is believed to be an antibacterial and have wound healing abilities. The leaves, bark, and seeds are also used in antiviral drugs and antiinflammatory medicines. It is believed even today that there is no end to the medicinal benefits of the Sweetgum Tree.
Location. 36° 43.478′ N, 77° 4.337′ W. Marker is in Courtland, Virginia, in Southampton County. It
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can be reached from Main Street (Virginia Route 35) north of Oak Trail, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 21452 Main St, Courtland VA 23837, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Coastal Virginia and in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Tidewater. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 25, 2025. It was originally submitted on June 25, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 75 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on June 25, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
