96 TREES 



names. All these trees are picturesque, with twigg;^^ con- 

 torted branches; tough, cross-grained wood; alternate, 

 simple, leathery, but deciduous leaves, beautiful at all 

 seasons; minute flowers and fleshy, berry-like fruits. 



The Sour, or Black, Gum 



Nyssa sylvatica. Marsh. 



The sour or black gum of the South has a wide range, 

 being hardy to southern Ontario and Maine. To the New 

 Englander this is the "pepperidge"; the Indians called 

 it "tupelo"; but the woodsman. North and South, calls it 

 the gum tree, as a rule. "Black gum" refers to its dark 

 gray, rough bark, which is broken into many-sided plates. 

 By this, it is easily distinguished from the "red gum" 

 or liquidamber, which grows in the same situations, but is 

 not related to it. ' ' Sour gum ' ' refers to the acid, blue-black 

 berries, one to three in a cluster, ripe in October. 



We shall know this tree by its tall, slender trunk, clothed 

 with short, ridged, full-twigged, horizontal branches. With 

 no claim to symmetry, the black gum is a striking and 

 picturesque figure in winter. It is beautiful in summer, 

 covered with the dark polished leaves, two to four 

 inches long. In autumn patches of red appear as the 

 leaves begin to drop. This is the tupelo's signal that 

 winter is coming. Soon the tree is a pillar of fire against 

 yellowing ashes and hickories. The reds of the swamp 

 maple and scarlet oak are brighter, but no tree has a richer 

 color than this one. A spray brought in to decorate the 

 mantelpiece lasts till Christmas holly displaces it. The 

 leaves, being leathery, do not curl and dry, as do thin 

 maple leaves, in the warm air of the house. 



