It may not be a maple, the lower part of the leaves is weird looking.

Can you get any more pictures? It isn’t clear whether the leaf arrangement is opposite or alternate. I don’t think the coloration is significant. And where is this located geographically?

I will brave the chiggers and try to get closer. It is thru the weeds and up a steep bank. What appealed to me was the color (A major bright spot in a dark wooded area.) and the leaf shape.

A better photo is needed, but I'm leaning toward sweetgum. The chlorosis could be due to soil pH as Jordan noted, or the tree may be under stress due to some kind of damage. If the bare branches are part of the same tree, the chlorotic growth may originate below the damage.

a crushed sweetgum leaf will smell of turpentine.. for a moment in time.. just roll it in your hand when you get the pic

Liquidambar was the reason I asked about the leaf arrangement.

Ken, scent can be very subjective. Liquidamber definitely has a scent, but to me it's exactly like...Lemon Pledge. It has a distinct citrus-y component. Likewise Houttuynia cordata smells of fish to some, but bucking the trend again, smells of citrus and coriander to me. Regardless, if the OP can detect a strong scent in the leaves, it points to Liquidamber

Not to spoil all the fun being had here...yes! Let's test scent, and discuss the finer points of olfactory abilities.

Imagine the e-quizzical look you may be getting , though, from someone who has never smelled turpentine, or hasn't had the pleasure of whiffing Lemon Pledge.

Taken to a ridiculous extreme - as has been evidenced elsewhere in e-communications - picture a hiker in gastrointestinal distress seeking relief. Now finding it necessary to perform perfunctory policing of one's premises, the hiker espies some fine verdant foliage of sufficient dimension and quantity - with trifoliate characteristics. Would advice be to crush it? Get right in there and sniff it? Taste it? Use it and see what eventuates?

"Leaflets three, won't wipe me..."

So, let's simply look at the arrangement along the stem of those simple leaves illustrated - with maybe a gander at buds, leaf scars, lenticels, and the like - and make a positive ID.

ooops, pressed 'like' instead of 'write a comment'.

I just sniffed a liquidambar leaf. Any turpentine scent was short-lived for me (but husband interrupted me at a crucial, first sniff, moment). Then I had a citrusy scent for a moment, then that disappeared too.

I have no clue what the tree is. Not a maple. Maybe not a liquidambar either. (??) Interesting thread. We need more evidence.

In my opinion it is not possible to ascertain leaf arrangement from the picture.

I would say these are the best two zoom-in I can get from the picture for disgnosing arrangement ...

It could well be opposite arrangement, as there do seem to be some leaves coming out directly across from one another.

I have also zoomed repeatedly and I’m pretty sure it is not possible to ascertain the arrangement given the crossing branches and poor focus.

If floral's eagle eye cannot discern the leaf arrangement, then the ID is still up for grabs. She sees more detail in relatively poor quality or too distant photos than anyone I have ever encountered! I would take her opinion over anyone else's.

These are the sites I'm looking at ...

Nope. Still not seeing anything. I see only crossing petioles. I will await more pictures,

I agree more pictures from closer would be useful.

I will go tomorrow and get more pictures. I can't believe the number of responses.

And perhaps look on the ground for old seed 'cases'... balls.

Make sure to get a closeup pic of the arrangement of the leaves on a stem -- opposite or alternate. Opposite would be strong evidence of a maple of some sort, alternate would rule out maple.

Here are the pictures. No Sweetgum balls around it. It looks like it had been scalped to the ground by one of the tractor mowers on long arms previously. I have a sweetgum in the woods and it has plainer leaves. Leaf attachment is alternate and they do have a chemical smell. I am afraid it is going to be sweetgum but what cultivar has this leaf shape?

The edges of the leaves are serrated if that helps with ID. I think it is L. Orientalis from Turkey. No idea how it got to the wilds of South Carolina. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=291500

If it got mowed down, it may have been sprayed too, hence the chlorotic coloring. That would be a very unusual Sweetgum leaf to me.

https://treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/liquidambar/liquidambar-orientalis/

Here is a photo of Turkish Sweetgum leaves. I am going to see what color it turns in the fall and then decide if I really want to try and grow one. It says in my zone it makes a bushy tree or if suckers are kept cleaned up a small tree.

Right. Thanks for the new pictures. Despite confident assertions to the contrary, now deleted, that is clearly NOT opposite foliage.

Shameless. And hilarious.

You all need to start quoting posts. It’ll stop the ”delete and pretend I never said it’ or ‘delete and pretend the mods did it, which one of you is reporting me’ game (as well as dirty edits).

Jordan (z7)

11 minutes ago

The alternate leaf arrangement points to sweetgum.

Jordan is a serial deleter. Since his comments are almost always inaccurate or misinformed, it may be best just to ignore them entirely....even before he deletes them.

It ls hard to understand why anyone would go to all the effort to write, delete and constantly create new accounts with nothing of value to add to the discussions and not be considered a troll.

Jordan (z7)

just now

Thanks Jinx! Seems like a bunch of deletions happened over the holiday weekend to a handful of users.

____________________________

You won’t want to thank me, my advice was to the regulars here you’ve been playing games with for a while now.

I had a poster try those games with me a long time ago, and as soon as I started quoting them it stopped.

Jordan (z7)

just now

Jinx that’s fine. I actually keep a copy of my posts because they get randomly deleted.

gardengal is a bully. Surprised how many dance to her evil tune. She’s solely has ruined these boards.

__________

I don’t agree with that at all. She’s one of the most valuable contributors here; Houzz is lucky to have her.

And a truly new poster wouldn’t be so vehemently angry towards someone else on a board they supposedly just joined. I sense quite a grudge.

Ahh, the ole unnamed, ”Other people agree with me about you!” and ”I have the reciepts, don’t make me post them!” defense. I’m about to get bingo, Jordan!

Edited:

Screenshots, yes, that sounds interesting. As one who read the pertinent comments in real time, and watched them go away in real time, that should be interesting. Yes, indeed. And time stamps to prove the order of deletion? How WILL we manage that? And randomly deleted posts? Sorry, doesn't happen unless either Houzz does it for cause, or the original post is deleted by the OP.

Gardengal can be abrupt, perhaps, but she has NEVER, ever lied. She is a respected member here, and I've read every post AS IT WAS POSTED in this little brouhaha.

By the way "sociopathic" is an adjective, not a noun, and requires an object. And yes, projection is at work here, but it's not by Gardengal.

Extraordinary. Somebody really needs to get a life. Or some help.

Jordan (z7)

16 minutes ago

Projection never did any healing. You are a sociopathic. Sick.

I would seriously urge you to get out in the fresh air for a bit, Jordan. This obsession is clearly affecting you quite badly.

Jordan (z7)

just now

“And a truly new poster wouldn’t be so vehemently angry towards someone else on a board they supposedly just joined. I sense quite a grudge.”

Really Jinx? You haven’t been following these padt few weeks. Enough. This is nothing but confirmation bias.

______________________

I don't post often on the gardening boards, but read avidly. And I saw this happening from day one. It's disturbing how hard Jordan immediately went for gg, as well as the relentless game playing and gaslighting. This is not a new poster. This is a poster with a plan to harass gg, most likely with the goal of trying to get her banned.

They posted a manifesto on the Using Houzz forum that was unhinged … repeatedly trying to get someone from Houzz on the phone (!), speaking of keeping files on gg, etc. That is not normal behavior.

To the OP: very sorry for the hijack.

@Jilly You do have a point, in that there's a possibility that J isn't a newcomer. But I think that it actually began with GG calling him out the first time, and he immediately took offense. I detect delicate sensibilities, lol. Ummmm, hyper-insecurity might be a better term. In either case, insecure newcomer or grudge-holding old-timer, his behavior is wayyyyyyyy out of line.

And I too, apologize to the original poster. This is the last comment I'll make here, other than to quote Jordan for posterity's sake, lol.

I missed the dustup. I have sensed a long held grudge and the ease and speed with which "Sybil" Jordan #7 shape shifted and worked the delete button indicated a person familiar with the forums.

I'm too old and my internet is too slow for that now.

I am in the dark as to what happened. Do you all think it is not L Orientalis? I spent the day at the Lake Lure Flower Bridge. It was HOT but the flowers were gorgeous. I wish we had something like that closer and I would volunteer to help keep it looking good.

Yes, it’s a Liquidambar. Whether it’s orientalis or just a variable styraciflua I haven’t a clue.

The confusion was caused by the poster who repeatedly deletes their posts. At the moment they're off air but going on past performance they'll conjure up a new persona and return to sow havoc.

Jordan (z7)

1 minute ago

What did I miss besides the losers speculating? Is GG48 still having a meltdown.

As predicted ..... disruptive and abusive.

There are a number of deletions going on ... some deletions are made to eliminate the nonsense created when the post to which they respond is gone. I would say if there was a cat, it's torn the thread to shreds, proudly presented half to an unsuspecting human, and sauntered off because it had better things to do.

may I just chip in my 2 cents?

folks like gardengal are top notch with their information,

and -my guess- with time worn down by ump-teen bazillion fresh-green-know-nots who even dont know that,

so dont expect sugar-coated overly-polite answers...

must be a cultural thing, or time -phase? that some folks are so upset by a person stating facts and pointing out wrong stuff -opposed to others oppinions-

all in the context of a debate of some horticultural issue

someone is not a bully when they persist on their facts, nothing wrong with that

I remeber a Danish member who -among others things- grew magnificent Delphiniums and disappeared after a heated debate, not sure whether he (I think) got banned, but he was definetely fed up with the Mimosa-esque attitude of some of the other debatees...

so, let the trolls come and go, I personally find it still - after years of practicing and studying all that "green stuff" - always helpfull to learn from florals and gardengals posts

----

nothing would be more boring if some kind of "cancel culture" took hold and stamied interesting debates

yours Lin