Nyssa Sinensis
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A Study in Scarlet: Nyssa sinensis Nancy Rose y favorite “old reliables” for fall color borne in axillary clusters and male flowers at the Arboretum include the pure are produced along older branches. The small Mgold foliage of sweet birch (Betula greenish flowers are inconspicuous but they are lenta), the fiery red-orange-yellow display of extremely attractive to honeybees (N. ogeche, Korean maple (Acer pseudosieboldianum), and which has a limited native range primarily in the glossy burgundy leaves of Euonymus carno- southern Georgia and northern Florida, is the sus. That’s just a start, though, and one of the source for prized tupelo honey). The fruit of delights of wandering the Arboretum repeatedly Chinese tupelo is a dark blue oblong drupe that in autumn is discovering new spots of color. is readily eaten by birds. A few years ago, on a gray mid-November day Taxonomy references place Nyssa either in when many trees were already bare, I was drawn Cornaceae (the dogwood family) or in its own to a cluster of brilliant scarlet and orange leaves family, Nyssaceae. The genus name Nyssa remaining on a tree branch. The tree, it turned comes from Greek mythology and refers to a out, was Chinese tupelo, Nyssa sinensis. water (or rain) nymph named Nyssa (or Nysa), This was a new species to me, but I certainly one of the nymphs who cared for Dionysus, knew another species in the genus, Nyssa syl- god of wine, as a child (the location where the vatica, known by the common names sour gum, water nymphs sheltered Dionysus and where black gum, tupelo, black tupelo, pepperidge, or, he invented wine is known as Mount Nyssa). to residents of Martha’s Vineyard, beetlebung. The reference to water is the important bit, Under any name, this eastern North American since this alludes to the preference of all Nyssa species is a handsome tree, noted for its lustrous species for moist soils. The type species for green foliage that turns stunning shades of red the genus is in fact another North American in the fall. Though its native range is thousands species, N. aquatica, commonly called water of miles away, Chinese tupelo is strikingly sim- tupelo or swamp tupelo because it grows in ilar to sour gum, providing yet another interest- very wet sites. Like its American relative, ing example of the disjunct floras of eastern N. sylvatica, Chinese tupelo prefers evenly North America and eastern Asia. moist, acidic soil but also tolerates somewhat Chinese tupelo is slightly smaller than sour drier conditions. gum, growing as tall as 60 feet (18 meters) in the The Arboretum currently holds just one wild but in cultivation typically reaching only specimen of Chinese tupelo (N. sinensis, acces- 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 meters). It has a pyrami- sion 374-81-B), which grows near several other dal to upright-oval form and dark gray, irregu- Nyssa accessions near Rehder Pond. This acces- larly fissured bark. Chinese tupelo is deciduous; sion was received as seeds from China’s Hang- when its leaves emerge in late spring they often zhou Botanical Garden in 1981, but the exact have an attractive red or bronze tint. Mature provenance of their collection is unknown. leaves are about 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centime- Chinese tupelo has a fairly large range in cen- ters) long, dark green and slightly shiny above, tral to southern China and an individual tree’s lighter green below. Autumn foliage color may cold hardiness may vary with provenance, but be variable depending on individual plant and a probable hardiness rating would be through local climate, but typically ranges from light USDA Zone 6b (average annual minimum tem- yellow and apricot to bright, almost luminous perature 0 to -5°F [-17.8 to -20.6°C]). Though reds and oranges. unlikely to supersede our native sour gum as As with other Nyssa species, Chinese tupelo a landscape plant, Chinese tupelo does offer is primarily dioecious (male and female flow- a wonderful burst of color as autumn moves ers borne on separate plants) but some plants toward winter. may also bear a few perfect (having both male and female parts) flowers. Female flowers are Nancy Rose is the editor of Arnoldia. .