Florida Forest Trees

Black Gum  (Nyssa sylvatica)

 

Nyssa sylvatica is a member of the dogwood family and is commonly called black gum, although it doesn’t produce any gum.  One of its other common names, tupelo tree, is derived from the Native American Creek ito opilwa, meaning swamp tree. Black Gum is best adapted to wet, acid bottomlands, where its lower trunk is buttressed or swollen. It can also grow on drier sites with rich acid soils. Its glossy green leaves and beautiful fall foliage make it a popular landscaping tree.

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The Nyssa family is also highly sought after by bee keepers because of the special tasting and non-crystallizing honey they help produce. In the past, hollowed black gum trunks were used as bee hives and rabbit traps. The bluish black fruit ripen in September and October and many species of birds savor the fruit. The foliage is browsed by Black Bear and White-tailed deer. 

Black gum is a tough wood suitable for tool handles, flooring and railroad cross-ties. Larger trees make an excellent veneer that is easily stained and the smaller trees are frequently used to make paper. Twigs broken off at right angles produce a fibrous bundle of woody tissue that was used as a tooth brush; hence one of black gum’s common names is pioneer’s toothbrush.

Black gum ranges from Texas to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana; east to Florida, north to Maine, and west to Michigan and Wisconsin. Trees range in height from 50 to 130 feet, averaging 80 feet. A “champion” black gum in Arkansas has a circumference of 17 feet, is 144 feet tall, and has a crown spread of 95 feet. In areas frequented by fire, black gum may be mostly shrubby sprouts.

 Identifying Characteristics
Size/Form:
 Black gum is a small tree generally averaging less than 80 ft in the wild. The trunk is often buttressed and swollen in wet conditions. The crown is broad and flat-topped.
Leaves:
 Glossy dark green leaves are 2” to 4” long and can be found in the shape of elliptical, lanceolate, or oblanceolate. Leaves are simple, deciduous, and alternate. The margin is usually found as entire but can have a few large dentate teeth. Underside of the leaf can be found with hairs while the upper surface is a shiny dark green.
Fruit:
 A blue-black drupe about ¼ to 1” long. Found in pairs on long stalks.
Bark:
 Young trees have flaky gray bark. Mature trees are dark gray-brown with shallow grooves and scaly ridges.
Habitat:
 This shade intolerant species is found on low, wet ground along streams or in swamps.

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