226 HOW TO KNOW WILD FRUITS 



TUPELO. SOUR GUM. PEPPERIDGE 

 Nyssa sylvatica Dogwood Family 



Fruit. The fruit clusters grow on long 

 slender stems from the leaf axils. They rarely 

 contain more than two or three of the bluish 

 black ovoid drupes. The flesh is thin and acid, 

 and the bony stone grooved. The drupes serve 

 as food for birds. October. 



Leaves. The leaves are a soft glossy green 

 above, with a paler, somewhat hairy under sur- 

 face. They vary in shape from lanceolate to 

 oval and obovate. They are often entire, some- 

 times notched, with large teeth near the apex. 



Flowers. Sterile and fertile flowers usually 

 grow on different trees, but sometimes on the 

 same tree. They are yellowish green. The 

 sterile flowers grow in several-flowered clusters, 

 and the fertile ones are solitary, or in a close 

 whorl of a few blossoms. They grow on short 

 stalks which elongate in fruit. 



This is an ornamental, rather small tree, with 

 an attractive foliage. Its branches are rather 

 low, horizontal, and quite close. The wood splits 

 with difficulty on account of its twisted fibers. 



