114 



Common Trees 



BLACK GUM 



Nyssa srjlvatica, Marshall 



THE BLACK GUM, also called Sour Gum, Tupelo, and 

 Pepperidge, is at its best in autumn when the entire 

 crown is often clothed with a complete garment of flaming 

 red. In winter when the foliage is off it has a strikingly 

 picturesque form. The stem often continues from the base 

 to the tip without di- 

 viding. In young and 

 middle - aged trees the 

 top branches take an 

 upright position, the 

 lower ones droop, while 

 those along the middle 

 stand out horizontally. 



The leaves are sim- 

 ple, alternate, 2 to 5 

 inches long, oval, blunt- 

 pointed, wedge - shaped 

 at the base, smooth 

 along margin. 



The twigs are smooth, 

 grayish - brown, and 

 dotted with crescent- 

 shaped leaf - scars each black gum 



marked With three dlS- Tw 'S> natural size. Bud and leaf-scar, enlarged. 



tinct bundle-scars. The Leaves and fruit " onethird natural 8ize " 

 buds are reddish-brown and scattered alternately along twigs. 



On young trunks the bark is smooth to scaly. It breaks 

 into squarish reddish-brown to black blocks on older stems. 



The fruit is a dark blue fleshy berry about one-third of 

 an inch long. Each berry contains a single hard-shelled seed. 

 Several berries usually occur in a slender-stalked cluster. Some 

 birds eat the berries freely. 



The wood is very tough and cross-grained. It is hard to 

 work, warps easily, and is not durable in contact with the soil. 

 Farmers have disliked the wood ever since they attempted to 

 split it for rails. In the hard coal mines it is used for rollers 

 carrying ropes and cables. 



The Black Gum is found from Maine to Florida, west to 

 Michigan and Texas. It is common across the southern and 

 central part of New York, and local to rare northward to 

 Lake George. The best growth is made in wet places. This 

 tree rarely exceeds 60 feet in height and 2 feet in diameter. 



