TUPELO, PEPPERIDGE; SOUR OR BLACK GUM (Nyssa syl- 

 atica, Marsh). 50 to 100 feet. Medium-sized tree, of ir- 

 ,-egular, variable shape; limbs short, tortuous, rigid, densely 

 twiggy. Bark rough, dark gray, broken into many-sided 

 plates; twigs green to orange, often downy. Wood heavy, 

 tough, cross-grained, hard to work, used for mauls, pulleys, 

 hubs, and woodenware. Leaves entire, oval, leathery, dark, 

 green, shining above, often fuzzy beneath, 2 to 4 inches long, 

 turning to scarlet. Flowers in May, yellow-green, small, in- 

 conspicuous, in axillary clusters. Fruit drupes, blue-black, 

 sour, ovoid, f inch long, 1 to 3 on stalk. Dist.: Maine to 

 Florida; west to Michigan, Missouri, and Texas. Swamps and 

 river banks 



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