After the blizzard, the American sweetgum trees dropped a lot of these seed pods on top of the snow. Owen called my attention to one of them as we walked down the driveway to the mailbox the other day. The holly was the start of his tree identification career, and he shows a keen interest in the other pricklies, as he calls them. These trees are quite common to us, noticeable for their gorgeous autumn colors, but I don’t think they grow in Pennsylvania.