740 



The Tupelos 



Fig. 677. — Tupelo Gum. 



angular-toothed on the margin, dark green, shining and nearly smooth above, 



pale and thinly woolly beneath; the leaf-stalk 

 is stout, hairy, 2 to 5 cm. long. The flowers, 

 which appear from March to May, are on 

 long, slender, hairy stalks, the staminate in 

 dense globose heads i to 1.5 cm. in diame- 

 ter; the pistillate flowers are soUtary, sub- 

 tended by several linear bracts 8 to 12 mm. 

 long; the petals are oblong and blvmt, much 

 shorter than the calyx- tube; the style is coiled 

 or curved at the top. The fruit, ripening in 

 September, is borne on a slender stalk 4 to 9 

 cm. long; it is oblong or oblong-obovoid, 

 nearly 3 cm. long, usually dark purple; the 

 flesh is thin and acrid, the stone ovate, 

 sUghtly flattened, pointed at the base, and 

 has about 10 sharp ridges; the seed is com- 

 pressed. 



The wood is soft, weak, close-grained, light 

 brown, with a specific gmvity of about 0.52, and is used for woodenware, pack- 

 ing-boxes, and crates. It is not known to have been successfully brought into 

 cultivation. 



4. OGECHE PLUM— Nyssa Ogeche Marshall. 



This is a round-headed tree, known also as the Ogeche lime. Gopher plum. 

 Wild Hme tree, and Tupelo. It is pecuUar 

 to the swamps of South Carolina, Georgia, 

 and Florida, attaining a maximum height 

 of about 20 meters, with a trunk diameter 

 up to 6 dm., usually much smaller and 

 sometimes shrubby. 



The bark is about 5 mm. thick, broken 

 into large dark brown scales. The twigs 

 are reddish velvety, becoming nearly 

 smooth, gray to brown. The buds are 

 about 4 mm. long, blunt, and covered with 

 hairy scales. The leaves are firm, oblong, 

 oblanceolate or obovate, 5 to 20 cm. long, 

 rounded and minutely tipped at the apex, 

 narrowed or rounded at the base, entire 

 margined, dark green, somewhat shining, 

 and nearly smooth above, pale and softly 

 hairy beneath; the leaf-stalk is stout and grooved, 5 to 20 mm. long. The flowers 



Fig. 678. — Ogeche Plum. 



