Blackgums are deciduous trees with scaly buds and diaphragmed pith. Leaves are alternate, oval, and have entire leaf margins, but the leaf margins are sometimes slightly toothed. Flowers are either polygamous or dioecious. Fruit is a drupe.
| I. | Leaves are 2—43/4 inches (5—12 cm) long. Leaves are glossy above and somewhat bloomy beneath. Buds are imbricate. Flowers are inconspicuous and borne in May or June. Fruit is a blue-black drupe that matures in October. |
| Nyssa sylvatica–Blackgum (Black Tupelo) |
Blackgum (Black Tupelo)–Nyssa sylvatica
The blackgum, often call sourgum, has been considered a weed in the forest due to the low value of the lumber in Ohio. In the lowlands it is occasionally found in year-round swamps with elm and in the hills and on dryer slopes with oaks and hickories.
The alternate, simple leaves are 2—43/4 inches (5—12 cm) long. Leaves are glossy, deep green above and somewhat bloomy beneath. Leaves are oval but may be broader near the apex, shiny, and dark green in color. Leaf margins are generally entire but sometimes are slightly toothed. In the fall, the leaves turn a brilliant red.
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| Blackgum (Black Tupelo) |
Buds are imbricate. Twigs have distinctively diaphragmed pith. The bark on young trees is furrowed between flat ridges and gradually develops into quad-rangular blocks that are dense, hard, and nearly black.
The green flowers on long, slender stems appear in May or June when the leaves are about one-third grown. Flowers may be polygamous or dioecious, but they are usually of two kinds. The male is borne in many-flowered heads and the female in two- to several-flowered clusters on different trees. The fruit is a dark blue, fleshy drupe, 1/3—2/3 inch (8—17 mm) long, containing a single, hard-shelled seed. They, too, are borne on long stems, two to three in a cluster, and mature in October.
The wood is very tough, cross-grained, and not durable in contact with the soil. The wood is hard to work and warps easily. It is used for crate and basket veneers, rollers, mallets, rough floors, mine trams, pulpwood, and fuel. In the old days, the hollow trunks were used for "bee gums." Tupelo honey is prized in the southern United States.
Black tupelo is one of our most brilliantly colored trees in the fall. Often the coloring starts in late summer and continues until mid-autumn when the trees seem ablaze with brilliant red foliage. For this reason, it can be considered an excellent native tree to plant for both color and ornamental effect. The nursery industry has recently begun to offer this plant in containers, as this plant is difficult to otherwise transplant. This tree requires an acid soil and is not a good landscape subject in the alkaline soils of the till-plains region.