Black Gum Sour Gum; Black Tupelo

black_gum_nyssa_sylvatica.jpg

Illustration of black gum flowers and fruits.

Black gum, Nyssa sylvatica.

Paul Nelson

Edible

Other Common Name:

Sour Gum; Black Tupelo

Family:

Nyssaceae (tupelos)

Description:

Black gum is a tall tree with horizontal branches and a flat-topped crown. Young trees are pyramidal; older trees more oval.

Leaves are alternate, simple, oval-elliptical, and lack teeth. In summer they are shiny dark green above and downy below. Often crowded toward the tips of branches. Early color changers, they turn bright scarlet or purple in late summer, well before the first frost.

Bark is gray to brown or black, deeply grooved, with ridges broken into irregularly shaped blocks with an “alligator hide” appearance.

Twigs are slender, reddish brown, slightly hairy at first, becoming gray and smooth later; some twigs short, pointed; pith white, with chambers.

Flowers April–June, as the leaves unfold. Male and female flowers greenish, in clusters on separate trees; petals 5, small.

Fruits September–October; plumlike, bluish black with a whitish coating, about ½ inch long, egg-shaped, thin-fleshed, with a single seed or pit. Pit flattened, with 10–12 broad, rounded ribs.

Similar species: Water tupelo (N. aquatica) develops a large, swollen base and the leaf margins are often irregularly toothed, the leaf tip abruptly pointed. Fruit is dark purple, thick-skinned, and dotted, in drooping clusters, each fruit about 1 inch long and widest above the middle. It occurs naturally in swamps with bald cypress trees in Missouri's southeastern lowlands and in two sinkhole ponds in the Ozarks.

Size:

Height: to 100 feet.

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Photo of black gum leaves turning color in fall, with bluish fruits as well.

Black Gum Leaves In Fall

Black gum trees have a striking appearance in fall: deep crimsons complement the remaining green sheens in the leaves, while dark blue berries complete the look.

Habitat and conservation:

Occurs in acid soils overlying sandstone, chert, or igneous substrate of dry, rocky, wooded slopes, ridges, ravines, borders of sinkhole ponds in the Ozarks, and lowland forests in southeastern Missouri. It tolerates shade and is frequently found growing with or under oaks and pines.

Distribution in Missouri:

Mostly in the Bootheel and in the southeastern Ozarks, though it has become popular in landscaping throughout the state.

Status:

Black gum has been in cultivation since 1750. Its brilliant foliage makes it a popular ornamental. If you are considering planting it, be glad, for it is essentially pest-free; the few pests that attack it are not serious. It's slow to become established after transplanting, so after-planting care is important. Once established, trees require little care besides watering during drought. It also tolerates urban growing conditions.

Human connections:

Black gum is becoming a popular landscaping tree. It offers an impressive scarlet fall color and lacks the spiny balls of the unrelated sweet gum. The wood is used for veneer, plywood, boxes, pulp, tool handles, gunstocks, docks, and wharves. Bees make good honey from black gum blossoms. The fruit is edible but sour and has a large seed; some people eat them or make them into preserves.

Ecosystem connections:

Many animals eat the fruit: birds, small rodents, opossum, raccoon, foxes, deer, and black bear. The latter two also browse the foliage. Large trees, in life and in death, provide habitat and nesting sites for many birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, insects, fungi, and more.