TUPELO 



(Nyssa Aquatica} 



TUPELO is said to be an Indian name. White men have applied it 

 to three species of gum, all of the same genus, namely, black gum 

 (Nyssa sylvalica),so\ir tupelo (Nyssa ogeche),and tupelo (Nyssa aquatica). 

 Probably, the name tupelo applies as well to one as to the other, for it is 

 said to refer to the drupe-like fruit ; but custom confines the name to the 

 species now under consideration. It is largest of the three species, most 

 abundant, and most important. Sour gum is heard in Arkansas and Mis- 

 souri, swamp tupelo in South Carolina and Louisiana, cotton gum in the 

 two Carolinas and Florida, wild olive tree in Louisiana, and olive tree in 

 Mississippi. 



The range of tupelo extends from Virginia along the coast to 

 Florida, northward in the Mississippi valley to southern Illinois, and 

 westward to Arkansas and Texas. It prefers swamps and attains largest 

 size in low ground which is subject to frequent overflow. The tree will 

 stand in several feet of water the greater part of the year without 

 injury. It is closely associated with cypress, the planer tree, and other 

 species which grow in deep swamps. 



Tupelo has not figured much in tree literature outside the books 

 of botanists. Travelers and local writers have paid it little attention. 

 It has not been remarkable for anything in the past, and has escaped 

 observation to a large extent because it grows in swamps and along 

 bayous, remote from the usual routes of travel. Its flowers attracted no 

 attention, its fruit was worthless, and the early settlers did not put them- 

 selves to trouble to procure the wood for any purpose. That was the 

 situation from the early settlement of the country where this species is 

 found up to a very recent period when economic conditions began to 

 bring tupelo into notice. 



It first attracted attention in the markets as a substitute for yellow 

 poplar. That was brought about by an attempt to pass it as poplar. 

 The growing scarcity of that wood in the region about Chesapeake bay 

 led to the trial of tupelo. It was sold as bay poplar, and the purchaser 

 was left to infer that it was poplar cut in the region tributary to Chesa- 

 peake bay. Probably few buyers were deceived, but they found the 

 wood a fair substitute for the yellow poplar which they had been pur- 

 chasing in the Baltimore and Norfolk markets. It is known as bay 

 poplar yet in many localities. It goes to England as such. One of its 

 most important uses in that country is as casing for electric wire fittings. 

 It has, however, many other important uses in England and on the 



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