This object is part of the Education and Outreach collection, some of which are in the Q?rius science education center and available to see.
Notes:
This is an American sweetgum tree seed pod. It is a dark reddish-brown sphere with protruding woody spikes. Without the stem, American sweetgum seed pods measures approximately 3 cm x 3 cm x 3 cm to 4 cm x 4 cm x 4 cm in size. If the stem is present, the stems measure between 6-8.5 cm and are attached directly to the gum ball. This specimen description was written remotely based on images as part of Amber Kreiensieck's internship in Fall 2021.
