CORNACEAE. 



265 



NYSSA. Tupelo. 

 (Family Cornaceae). 



Trees: deciduous. Twigs mod- 

 erate or rather stout, terete: pith 

 moderate, white, rounded, continu- 

 ous, but with firmer diaphragms 

 at intervals. Buds moderate, ses- 

 sile or slightly stalked and super- 

 posed or solitary, ovoid, with 

 about 4 exposed scales, the end- 

 bud somewhat larger. Leaf-scars 

 alternate, broadly crescent-shaped 

 or deltoid, sometimes becoming 

 broadly U-shaped by rupture of 

 an articular membrane, low: bun- 

 dle-traces 3: stipule-scars lacking. 

 Winter-character references: 

 Nyssa sylvatica (N. multifiora). 

 Blakeslee & Jarvis, 331, 554, pi.; 

 Brendel, pi. 3; Otis, 208; Schnei- 

 der, f. 45, 124. 



The firmer cross-plates in the 

 pith of Nyssa afford a ready 



means of identification in the summer when the alternate sim- 

 ple leaves are the only obvious characters in evidence, as is 

 true of staminate trees when out of flower, or pistillate trees 

 when without flowers or fruit. 



Nyssa uniflora, growing in deep swamps, is particularly 

 characterized by the enormously swollen base of its trunk, 

 well figured by S. M. Coulter in the Report of the Missouri 

 Botanical Garden, vol. 15, pi. 18, 19. 



1. Twigs densely velvety. (Ogeeche lime). 

 Twigs and buds glabrescent or glabrous. 



2. Buds depressed. (Cotton gum). 

 Buds ovoid. (Pepperidge). 



(1). N. capitata. 

 2. 



(2). N. uniflora. 

 (3). N. sylvatica. 



