738 



The Tupelos 



staminate flowers are on slender pedicels, in long-stalked umbels; the pistillate 2 

 together, at the end of a long stalk, with ovate blunt petals. The fruit is in clus- 

 ters of 2 on a stalk 2 to 6 cm. long, oval to eUiptic, 10 to 13 mm. long, dark 

 blue; the acrid pulp is rather thin; stone oval, prominently ribbed. 



The wood is very similar to that of the Sour gum, of which this tree is some- 

 times considered a race or variety. 



2. SOUR GUM— Nyssa sylvatica Marshal 



Nyssa multiflora Wangenheim 



This well-known tree, also called Tupelo, Tupelo gum, Black gum, Yellow 

 gum, Peppcridge, and Stinkwood, is of frequent occurrence in wet or moist soil, 

 from Maine to Ontario, Michigan, Florida and Texas, attaining its greatest di- 



FlG. 675. — Sour Gum, New York Botanical Garden. 



mensions, 50 meters high, and a trunk diameter of 1.5 m., in the southern Alle- 

 ghany Mountains. 



The trunk is stout, thick and straight, the branches slender, widely spreading or 



