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Tree is approx. 60' tall, 36'' dia. trunk, bright green in Summer and very beautiful deep red in Fall. Has a small elongated purplish , very fleshy and juicy berry 3/8" long and the seed is woody and is about 1/4" long. I will include a pic of some of the leaves which were still on the tree a week ago along with one seed I believe.
Thanks
S Sayger
Hernando, MS
I'm going to send another pic of the seeds from the tree which I posted about a moment ago. This is a pic of some of the seeds, flesh rmoved and at least one seed with the flesh remaining.
Thanks
S Sayger
Hernando, MS
If that was up here in KY, I'd call it a Nyssa sylvatica, Blackgum, Tupelo.
Down in MS, you could probably have one of several different Nyssa species as possibilities. It will be one of them. The fruit you've described might be too big to be a Nyssa sylvatica, or it is just a prolifically productive one.
Other species of Nyssa include Nyssa aquatica, Nyssa biflora, and Nyssa ogeche.
Here is another pic which I took of the tree I posted the qurery about earlier. It was tentatively identified as being "Nyssa sylvatica, Blackgum, Tupelo" but I do know it is not Tupelo. Having been reared in the bottomlands of Arkansas and having lived in South LA for many years, I am very familiar with Tupelo. I wanted to call it "Blackgum" myself, because I seemed to recall my father having called it such -- however, "Blackgum" always comes up Tupelo.This tree is not "buttressed" whatsoever and grows in a church pkg. lot, high and dry. Further, the seeds are only 3/8" long and Tupelo's are longer if I remember correctly. It is extrememly rare here in N MS, but is a beautiful tree and I'm trying to spread them around. I'm going to post a closeup of the bark (which is very ridged and rough) in hopes of another opinion.
Thanks much for your help.
S Sayger
I hope I'm allowed to post another pic here (since it seems that only one pic per posting is allowed) of my "Blackgum" (?) tree!! As I said the tree is not buttressed whatsoever and the bark is much rougher than Tupelo. Also, it is VERY heavily limbed and large - maybe 36" in dia.
S. Sayger
Hernando, MS
The tree generally called black gum used to be classified as one species Nyssa sylvatica with two subspecies. One subspecies grows in the swamps and often has a buttressed base, the other growing in more upland locations and not having a buttressed base. They have since been separated into two species with swamp tupelo Nyssa biflora being the tree often with buttressed bases and usually found in swamps and bogs while blackgum Nyssa sylvatica also having leaves like your tree but usually found in upland areas and not forming buttressed bases. Many sources still show these as one species.
Nyssa sylvatica (Blackgum), like Taxodium distichum (Baldcypress), is quite adaptable to site from low wet swampy areas to evenly draining normal moist loamy sites to dry upland ridge areas. It occupies all of these in its native haunts in Louisville KY, in the parks that I work in.
Maybe I should have referred to this species as Beetlebung! This is one of the hazards of only knowing plants by one regional common name. Beetlebung is the local vernacular for Nyssa sylvatica out on Martha's Vineyard, MA with reference to an historical use for the wood of this species. You have quite a different experience in the southeast. We are talking about the same plant.
Somewhere in my digital image files, I have pics of this plant on an old property in MD. There, the trunks exceed the 36" diameter you mention. Still - this is the same tree.
Would someone please ID this bushy plant for me. It grows in a small grove, deep in a "woodsy holler" near my home in N MS. In summer, the leaves are a bright green and as the pic will show, they are now turning a bright yellow. The bush only measures 6-8' in ht. and seems to thrive in the most shaded parts of the hollow.
I thought that my hand would show in the pic but apparently not. The leaves are 8-10" in lgth.
Thanks
samss
