Fruit. The fruit of gumball trees are spiky round balls that are 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter. They resemble the top of a medieval mace weapon and are painful when stepped on with bare feet.The fruit starts off as green and turns brown by the time it falls to the ground.he tall-growing plant dazzles with its orange, red, yellow and purple autumn foliage. The tree’s other common names include sweetgum, star-leaved gum, alligator-wood, gumtree and redgum. It is native to the Mid-Atlantic region, the Southeast and parts of Mexico and Central America.