Liquidamber trees (liquidamber styraciflua) are a common street and yard tree in SCalifornia. I suppose they are common across most of the USA, I have even seen them in yards in the desert. I love their natural pear shape, but they are frequently pruned to make them more round. Don't understand why. They produce an abundance of burrs (witches burrs, gumballs, spikeballs, etc.) which you don't want to walk on. These balls are some times used in crafts, such as Christmas tree ornaments when sprayed with metallic paint. Decades ago when I was a Girl Scout co-leader we gathered bucketsful and tried all sorts of arty projects. I looked on Google and found lots of these little balls for sale! And the prices vary wildly. 20 for $5, 40 for $3.32 4 to 5 pounds for $65 or, for high volume users, there are 7 to 8 pounds for $165. The burrs are very light so that last order would be a huge supply.
Anyway, the sidewalks in my neighborhood are currently drifted with the burrs after our high winds of the last few days. I picked up a small basketful to enjoy for a couple weeks. They are an interesting shape, but now unfortunately remind me of Covis - 19 shape.
# # #
