Nyssa Sylvatica Black Tupelo

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Nyssa sylvatica H. Marshall Black Tupelo (Nyssa biflora, Nyssa multiflora, Nyssa ursina)

Other Common Names: Bee Gum, Beetle-Bung, Black Gum, Cotton Gum, Hornbeam, Hornbine, Hornpine, Hornpipe, Pepperidge, Snag Tree, Sour Gum, Swamp Hornbeam, Upland Tupelo, Yellow Gum. Family: Nyssaceae (sometimes included in the Cornaceae). Cold Hardiness: USDA zones 4b to 9 (10a); appropriate provenance selection is likely to be important as the species has a large native range. Foliage: Deciduous; alternate; simple; elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate; 2O to 5O (6O) long by 1O to 3O wide; tips acute to short acuminate; margins thickish, usually entire, or rarely toothed on the distal half; base rounded to cuneate; blades dark lustrous green above, medium green and pubscent beneath; fall color is red to burgundy, sometimes mixed with yellow and orange, and develops early in the season; petiole ¾O to 1O long; pubescent or glabrous; green or flushed red. Flower: Polygamo-dioecious, female flowers in small, one- to eight- flowered, weeping axillary clusters, while male flowers are borne in more numerous umbellate clusters; caylx disk-like and five-lobed; green; not ornamental, but utilized extensively by bees. Fruit: Blue-black oval drupes in small clusters; dO to ½O long; fruits have a thin fleshy covering over a more or less deeply ribbed stone-like seed inside; maturing in late summer to autumn; peduncles to 2Oin length; fruit can be messy on sidewalks. Stem / Bark: Stems — initially pubescent, later glabrous; more slender than those of S. aquatica; ash- gray to red-brown in color; chambered pith is present; three bundle sheath scars are nestled inside the crescent-shaped to oval leaf scars; short spur shoots often develop; Buds — terminal buds are ovoid and ¼O or less in length; lateral buds smaller, divergent, mostly dark red-brown in color with minute hairs, and most buds with five visible scales; Bark — red-brown becoming gray-brown to gray- black; blocky and reminiscent of alligator hide at maturity. Habit: Black Tupelo is a medium to large tree, 50N to 60N (140N); trees are strongly upright in growth form when young, developing a more upright oval crown at maturity, and eventually become rather flat-topped in old age; branches are borne at strong right angles and tend to be short and stout; the overall texture is medium. Cultural Requirements: A strong tap root often hinders transplant, hence air or chemically root pruned container grown transplants are preferred; this is a more upland species than N. aquatica, but plants can adapted to poor drainage and may be appropriate for poorly aerated soils; growth rates are slow to moderate; full sun to partial shade are acceptable; their foliage is prone to chlorosis on high pH soils, with plants requiring an acidic root zone for acceptable growth; somewhat tolerant of soil and atmospheric salt exposure. Pathological Problems: The species’ biggest pathological problem in landscapes are the disfiguring leaf spots from a variety of disputed causal organisms; other diseases/pests include trunk cankers, rust, tupelo leaf miner and various scale insects; in addition to this list, the trunks are prone to heart rots. Ornamental Assets: Primary landscape attributes are the rich green summer foliage and handsome early bright red fall foliage. Limitations & Liabilities: The primary limitations of this species are poor transplant survival and leaf spots that are mostly an aesthetic, but not debilitating problem; slow growth rates and intolerance to alkaline soils and very droughty conditions can be limiting in Central and West Texas. Landscape Utilization: Residential shade, street, or park tree where early fall color is desired and/or soils are acidic and wet; specimen tree; fruit are eaten by many species of wildlife and the hollow trunks serve as wildlife shelters; naturalizing. Other Comments: The timber is sometimes used commercially, but this species is more famous for the high quality honey produced from its flowers; the common name of tupelo is derived from the Creek Indian words for tree and swamp; the genus name Nyssa derives from the name of a Greek water nymph and the specific epithet means “of forest or woodland”. Native Habitat: Native to extreme Southern Ontario and the Eastern USA, including East Texas, East Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Related Taxa: Some authorities separate a Southeastern US subtaxa, Nyssa sylvatica H. Marsh. var. biflora (T. Walter) C.S. Sargent, with more flared trunks, more blunt leaves and prominently ribbed stones in the fruit as a distinct variety, whereas others accord it species rank as Nyssa biflora T. Walter (Black Cum, Swamp Black Cum, Swamp Black Tupelo, Swamp Tupelo, Nyssa ursina).

Nyssa aquatica L. Water Tupelo (Nyssa uniflora) C Also known as Bay Poplar, Black Gum, Cotton Gum, Hornbeam, Large Tupelo, Sour Gum, Swamp Tupelo, Tupelo, Tupelo Gum, Water Gum, or Wild Olive; Water Tupelo as the common name implies is typically found in swamps and wet environments in the Southeastern US, including Southeast Texas and Louisiana; trees of this species can eventually attain heights of 100N and are often characterized by thickly swollen or buttressed bases in wet locations; these trees provide a fairly similar appearance in the landscape to N. sylvatica, with N. aquatica being a bit better for wet locations, whereas N. sylvatica is preferred on drier locations; foresters oft prefer this species over N. sylvatica as the trunks tend to be straighter, limbs self-prune more readily, creating long straight boles, and the wood is purported to be more rot resistant; the stouter twigs of N. aquatica have leaves which have longer acuminate tips, more toothed margins, and are larger, 5O to 10O long, than those of N. sylvatica. C Nyssa aquatica is more of a coastal plain and southern Mississippi River Valley species than N. sylvatica, generally being adapted to USDA zones 6 to 9 (10); this species is as equally slow growing as N. sylvatica in most landscape settings, but is more rapid growing in wet sites; Water Tupelo might be used in combination with Taxodium spp. to add diversity and additional fall color to wet sites; this tree’s transplant capability should be investigated as it is reported (Simpson, 1988) to have a wider spreading shallower root system than N. sylvatica; knees are reported to rarely develop from roots of N. aquatica under flooded conditions; the specific epithet refers to the species aquatic habitat.

References: Brown, 1945; Cox and Leslie, 1988; Diggs et al., 1999; Dirr, 1998; Gilman, 1997; Grimm, 1983; Harlow et al., 1991; McCoy, 1981; Simpson, 1988; Vines, 1960.