From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), also known as Black gum, Pepperidge, and Sour gum, is a medium-sized tree of eastern North America, from New England and Ontario south to central Florida and Eastern Texas. It is also often known as simply Tupelo, but the full name Black tupelo helps distinguish it from the closely related species Water tupelo (N. aquatica), Bear tupelo (N. usrina) and Ogeechee tupelo (N. ogeche). All of the tupelos are natives of the southeast of North America.
Black tupelo can be separated into two sub-species; N. s. sylvatica and N. s. biflora
The leaf of Black tupelo is variable in size and shape. It can be oval, elliptical or obovate. It is lustrous, with entire, often wavy margins. The leaf turns scarlet in autumn. The flower is very small, greenish-white in clusters at the top of a long stalk. The fruit is a black-blue, ovoid stone fruit, about 3/8 of an inch long with a thin, oily, sour flesh. There are from one to three such fruit together on a long slender stalk. The bark is dark grey and flaky when young, but it becomes furrowed with age. The twigs of this tree are are reddish-brown, usually hidden by a greyish skin. The pith is chambered with greenish partitions.
