Nyssa bijlora, 
THE TWIN-FLOWERED NYSSA. 
Synonymes. 
Nyssa aquatica, 
Nyssa bijlora, 
Tupelo biflore, Tupelo aquatique, 
Zweibliimiger Tupelobaum, 
Tupelo bifloro, 
Tupelo-tree, 
Tupelo-tree, Gum-tree, Yellow Gum-tree, 
Sour Gum-tree, Peperidge-tree, Pipper- 
idge-tree, Wild Pear-tree, 
LiNNiEus, Species Plantarum. 
Michaux, North American Sylva. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britanmcum. 
France. 
Germany. 
Italy. 
Britain. 
Anglo-America. 
Derivation. The specific name bi flora is derived frnm thp Tatin h;~... v... i j 
ence w ilie f.m,le nor, o(il,i, t re , ceurri,,?n.i V,& ,?D.t,^\S^ 
Specific Characters. Leaves ovate-oblong, entire, acute at both ends, glabrous 
a peduncle. Drupe short, and obovate, with the nut striated. 
Female flowers two upor 
Description. 
^!5ij|HE Nyssa biflora, in an uncul- 
^ H H js tivated state, seldom rises above 
Eg LI M> forty or fifty feet, with a trunk 
w^ti&m fifteen or twenty inches in di- 
ameter. Its branches spring from the main stem, 
five or six feet above the ground, usually affecting 
a horizontal direction; and the young shoots of 
the first two years are commonly simple, and 
widely divergent from the branches. The trunk, 
while it is less than ten inches in diameter, has 
nothing remarkable in its appearance, but on full- 
grown and vigorous stocks, the bark is thick and 
deeply furrowed, which, unlike that of most other 
trees, is divided into hexagons, that are sometimes 
very regular. The leaves are about three inches 
long, ovate-oblong, entire, slightly glaucous be- 
neath, alternate, and are often united in bunches 
at the extremities of the young shoots. The flowers, which put forth in April or 
May, are small, and scarcely apparent ; but the fruit, which is usually abundant, 
and attached in pairs on peduncles one or two inches in length, is about the s 
of a pea, of a deep-blue colour, and is highly ornamental. It is ripe in October, 
and, remaining upon the trees after the falling of the leaves, it serves for a pari 
of the food of the American robins, (Turdus migratorius,) in their animal migra- 
tions to the south. The stone of the fruit is compressed on one side, slightl] con- 
vex on the other, and longitudinally striated. 
Variety. N. b. villosa, Loudon. Ha^ry-leaved Nyssa : Nyssa sylva tica, of 
Michaux; Tupelo des terrains sees ; Tupih de montagne, of the French; Haatv 
