Tree id

[Classic1]

Looking for an ID.  Think it's a red maple best I can tell from looking at leaves online.  But don't get these much down here.  Any ideas?

[Classic1]

[Blue Noser]

I can tell you that it is not a red maple (Acer rubrum), but I cannot tell you what it is.

[WDH]

Horticultural variety of sweetgum.  In native, wild sweetgum, the leaves have five lobes.

http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=53

[BigBurOak]

I agree w/WDH

[Classic1]

Thanks guys, appreciate the info. 

Looks like the wood can be quite beautiful.

[WDH]

The heartwood is very beautiful.

[caveman]

Liquidambar formosana

[WDH]

Thanks Kyle.  So, a chinese import, not a horticultural variety.  Never knew that there was a chinese sweetgum.

[caveman]

There are some in Lake Parker Park in Lakeland.  I noticed them several years ago when collecting dendro samples.  Other than the leaves, they look very similar to our native sweetgums.  Evidently they are planted as an ornamental.  Still waiting on a fishing report, Danny-Red Drum (red fish).

[WDH]

This year was poor from a fishing standpoint.  Pretty slow.  My group caught only 6 red drum, puppy drum, 24 - 28" long.  No big ones.  I got red fish skunked this year  .  Did hook 7 sharks too big to land, in fact, too big to stop.  If you did not crank down on the drag so that the line would break, they would take all 300 yards of line off the spool and send you back to the tackle store. 

[caveman]

Sometimes we need fishing trips to remind us to appreciate the catching trips and not to take them for granted.  This usually occurs to me when I think I have them figured out.  Big sharks can certainly ruin a lot of tackle in a hurry, but they can bring some excitement.