CORNACEAE 279 



A large shrub, sometimes almost a tree ; similar in general 

 appearance to the preceding. Sometimes cultivated for ornament ; 

 and reputed to have some medicinal properties. Blooms mostly in 

 May. 



Grows in swamps and other low places, especially if a little 

 calcareous. 



lA or B. (Near?) Athens (Baker & Earle). 

 2A. Cullman and Blount Counties. (Mostly C. Anionunif) 

 5. Clay County. Lee County (Baker & Earle). 

 6A. Tuscaloosa County. 



7. Hale, Perry, Dallas and Autauga Counties. Montgomery County 

 (Mohr, C. Amommi). 



low. Sumter, Choctaw, Wilcox and Butler Counties. 



11. Choctaw County. 



13 or 14. Mobile and Baldwin Counties (Mohr). 



Cornus asperifolia, L. 



A shrub similar to the preceding, except that the leaves are 



rought with minute stiff hairs. (I may have sometimes confused 



the two.) Grows in rather dry calcareous soils. 



IB. (Near?) Russellville (Mohr). 



7. Greene and Sumter Counties. Dallas County (Cocks). 



NYSSA, Linnaeus. The Black and Tupelo Gums. 



Nyssa sylvatica, Marsh. (A\ niultiflora, Wang.) (Common) 

 Black Gum. Often called PeppEridge or Tupelo in the 

 North.) 



A medium-sized deciduous tree with no striking characteris- 

 tics. Blooms mostly in April. Occasionally cultivated for orna- 

 ment, at least in the North, where it is scarcer than with us, and 

 therefore more appreciated. A "weeping" variety has been de- 

 veloped in cultivation. The wood has an interlaced grain which 

 makes it difficult to split and unsuitable for lumber, but good for 

 mauls, hubs, rollers, ox-yokes, etc. Hollow sections of the trunk 

 were formerly much used in the rural districts for bee-hives, 

 whence the old name for them, "bee-gums." The lierries are bit- 

 ter and neither edible nor medicinal. 



Grows mostly in dry woods, in quite a variety of soil, avoid- 

 ing the richest and poorest. It is commonest northward, but oc- 

 curs scattered among other trees, with a density of about one tree 

 to the acre, or perhaps less. When it grows in damp places it is 

 not always easy to distinguish from the next. 



