Sweetgum

Liquidambar styraciflua (N.C. State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox)
American sweetgum is a woody, deciduous tree frequently found in wet river bottoms, in swamps that frequently flood, and on drier uplands (except the high mountains) throughout North Carolina.

Sweetgum (Virginia Tech Dendrology)
Learn to identify sweetgum by its leaf, flower, fruit, twig, bark and form.

Sweetgum (Coastal Carolina University)
The sweetgum is native to eastern North America and can be found growing in moist, rich, alluvial soils or invading cutover hardwood stands and pine plantations in upland sites. In the Southeast, the sweetgum’s hardwood is considered to be one of the most valuable for commercial use of timber.