Habitat:
This is a bottomland species, preferring rich, moist alluvial
soils, but is found growing on a variety of sites. It is a reasonably fast
grower, invading floodplains and abandoned fields in the south.
Diseases:The sweetgum is particularly susceptible to bleeding necrosis, a fungus disease that causes the bark to bleed profusely. No control is available, and infected trees should be removed. Other problems include sweetgum webworm, sweetgum scale and walnut scale. In alkaline soils iron chlorosis may be a problem.
Distribution: The sweetgum is native to the eastern and southern US, extending to Mexico. It is not dependably hardy in most of Iowa, and will suffer twig dieback in severe winters.
