The Tupelos and the Dogwoods 



B. Leaves blunt pointed; fruit red. 



(N. Ogeche) ogeechee lime 

 BB. Leaves sharp pointed; fruit purple. 



(A/, aquatica) cotton gum 



Tupelo, Pepperidge, Sour or Black Gum (Nyssa sylvat- 

 ica, Marsh.) A medium-sized tree of variable shape, 50 to 100 

 feet high, with short, rigid, twiggy, horizontal branches. Bark 

 rough, dark grey, broken into many-sided plates; on younger 

 trees, pale brown or grey; branches brown; twigs green to orange, 

 often downy. Wood heavy, tough, cross grained, soft, not durable 

 in contact with the soil, hard to work. Buds small, brown, with 

 hairy scales. Leaves alternate, entire, 2 to 4 inches long, oval, 

 leathery, shining above, pale, often hairy beneath, turning 

 scarlet above in autumn. Flowers, May, after leaves, yellowish 

 green, inconspicuous, polygamo-dioecious ; staminate in loose, 

 pendant heads; pistillate larger, 2 or more in a cluster. Fruits, 

 October, i to 3 in cluster; fleshy drupes ovoid, blue-black, sour, 

 I inch long; stone ridged. Preferred habitat, low, wet soil, borders 

 of swamps, rivers and ponds. Distribution, Maine to Florida; 

 west to southern Ontario, Michigan, Missouri and Texas. Uses: 

 Handsome, hardy ornamental trees. Wood used for mauls, 

 pulleys, hubs, rollers, ox yokes and woodenware. 



In early fall the rambler in the woods is often startled to see 

 on the mossy carpet in front of him a thick, shining leaf, part of 

 which is still deep green and part as red as blood. It is the 

 tupelo's signal that winter is on the way. Look up, my friend, 

 and the branches above show only a few leaves coloured like the 

 one you found. Come again in a week or two and the tree is 

 ablaze with reds of every shade. 1 1 is a pillar of fire, indeed, among 

 the yellowing ashes and hickories; only the reds of the swamp 

 maples and sumachs compare with it in brilliancy. Who can 

 fail to know the tupelo in the glory of its dying foliage? Certainly 

 no rational being, if he has eyes in his head, and the tree in his 

 neighbourhood. The sight of one, and a few sprays of its lustrous 

 leaves to put up behind the picture frames at home, are well 

 worth a Sabbath day's journey. 



"Tupelo" is the pretty Indian name. "Pepperidge" cannot 

 be accounted for. It is probable that the fiery foliage first led 

 people to suppose this tree to be a relative of the sweet gum. 

 They grow together both large trees in the bottom lands of the 



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