Black Tupelo, Black Gum, or Sour Gum

(Nyssaceae - Tupelo Family)

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• Form
  • large shade tree
  • maturing at 40' tall by 30' wide under urban conditions, but double that in the wild
  • upright pyramidal growth habit in youth, becoming upright oval, upright horizontal, or spreading with age (often quite unpredictable in the growth habit of an individual tree)
  • slow growth rate under urban conditions, but medium growth rate in native sites

• Culture
  • full sun to partial sun (partial shade tolerant in youth)
  • performs best in evenly moist, deep, acidic soils in full sun, but is somewhat adaptable to either wet or dry soils
  • propagated primarily by seeds, but stem cuttings from male trees are sometimes grafted onto seedling understock
  • Tupelo Family, with occasional leaf spot being the most common cosmetic disease; in general, no disease or pest problems of significance
  • moderately available in ball and burlap or container form
  • alkaline pH soils should be avoided, as they cause slow growth, foliage chlorosis, and eventual decline or demise of the tree
  • the deep taproot system makes ball and burlap transplanting somewhat risky except on very young trees, and therefore container-grown saplings are becoming more popular
  • Black Tupelo is somewhat sensitive to being transplanted in Autumn, and care should be taken to amend the soil, fertilize, water thoroughly, mulch adequately, and avoid Winter salt spray, to enhance survival chances during the first Winter

• Foliage
  • alternate, obovate to elliptic, and lustrous dark green in Summer
  • excellent fall color, a mixture of scarlet, purple, orange, yellow, and green hues of shining foliage on the tree in Autumn, slowly abscising

• Flowers
  • polygamo-dioecious (most trees have either staminate flowers [male, non-fruiting trees] or pistillate flowers [female, heavy fruiting trees], but some trees have either staminate and perfect flowers [limited-fruiting trees] or pistillate and perfect flowers [heavy fruiting trees]
  • whatever the floral state of the tree, the flowers are small, greenish-white, and ornamentally insignficant, appearing in May with the foliage

• Fruits
  • bluish-black small oblong fruits, maturing in September and October, often profusely borne when present, and readily eaten by birds and squirrels
  • the abscised fleshy fruits (or directly correlated bird droppings under the trees) can be a liability

• Twigs
  • reddish brown young twigs become a smooth light gray by the second season
  • branches become densely twiggy with age and have numerous spur shoots

• Trunk
  • brown to dark gray, with prominent ridges broken into rectangular blocks by horizontal fissures, somewhat ornamental and eventually becoming platy with age

• ID Summary
  • leaves are elliptical to obovate, very shiny, on terminal or spur shoots, and with a spectacular mix of red, orange, yellow, and green fall colors
  • brown or gray mature bark is moderately ornamental, having a blocky, thick composition that slowly gives way to a platy appearance
  • growth habit may be pyramidal in youth, but becomes upright oval, spreading, or irregular with age, sometimes with a rounded or horizontal crown
  • many trees have copious bluish-black small fruits in Autumn, prized by birds and squirrels

• Function
  • specimen, focal point, or shade tree

• Texture
  • medium-fine texture in foliage and when bare
  • average to thick density in foliage and when bare

• Assets
  • consistently spectacular fall color
  • fruits attract wildlife (for those trees that have fruits)
  • wet site or dry site tolerant
  • blocky ornamental mature bark
  • some trees have picturesque horizontal branching and a flat-topped crown with age

• Liabilities
  • fruit litter and associated bird droppings (for those trees that have fruits)
  • slow growth rate in most urban situations
  • irregular growth habit for some individual trees

• Habitat
  • zones 3 to 9
  • native to the Eastern United States

• Alternates
  • shade trees for excellent fall color (Acer rubrum, Acer saccharum, Liquidambar styraciflua, Quercus coccinea, etc.)
  • trees with abundant fruits that attract wildlife (Amelanchier species, Carya species, Crataegus species, Fagus species, Malus hybrids, Morus species, Quercus species, etc.)
  • trees with a flat-topped growth habit at maturity (Crataegus crus-galli, Gleditsia triacanthos [native thorny form], etc.)

• Variants
  • the straight species is usually the only available choice, although selections should be made for forms that are alkaline soil tolerant, single color fall color, or male (fruitless) grafted forms

• Translation
  • Nyssa is a derivation of Nysa, the mythological water nymph, referring to the first described species (Nyssa aquatica) which is native to swamps.
  • sylvatica translates as "of woods".

• Purpose
  • Black Tupelo is a native shade tree that is underutilized in landscapes, and is primarily known for its spectacular fall colors.

• Summary
  • Nyssa sylvatica is known as a shade tree with shining dark green Summer foliage, excellent fall color, abundant fruits (on appropriate flowering forms) that attract wildlife, and a picturesque growth habit with blocky ornamental bark at maturity.