PARK AND CEMETERY 
2 () 
NYSSAS OR SOUR GUMS, 
The Sour Gums, or Nyssas, are among the most 
beautiful trees in early fall, but their beauty is fleeting. 
For a few days they dazzle us with the splendor of 
their scarlet robes, but, although they are the first 
to put on their gorgeous apparel, they are also among 
the first to drop their garments and to stand 
“Straight and bold. 
Stripped for their wrestle with the cold.” 
There are several species of Nyssa, distinguished 
by their time of flowering, number of flowers on a 
pedicel, habit of growth and size at maturity, and by 
several other distinctive characteristics. But the eas- 
iest way to distinguish them one from another is by 
the size of their leaves. If you are doubtful about the 
specific name of a Nyssa in leaf, but neither in fruit 
nor flower, you can determine the species it belongs 
to by noticing the average length of its leaves. 
Nyssa sylvatica, also called Pepperidge, has leaves 
from two to five inches long. The leaves of Nyssa 
biflora are from one to three inches in length, while 
Nyssa Uniflora, also called the Tapelo tree, has luuch 
larger leaves than either of the other two, varying 
from four to twelve inches in length. 
There are other species, such as the Ogeechee 
Lime of the far south, but the three kinds that we have 
mentioned are best for general planting. No two 
Nyssas grow in just the same way, and it is this 
diversity of shape that makes them so picturesque. 
Whatever form they assume, they are sure to be 
beautiful. 
Nyssa sylvatica is the most showy in its fall color- 
ing of bright scarlet. 
Two of these trees standing seven feet apart in the 
grove at Rose Brake are about fifty feet in height 
with a trunk diameter of twenty inches in one and 
twenty-two in the other. They are finely developed 
trees, with almost straight trunks. I doubt if Sour 
Gums in their natural state ever have cjuite straight 
trunks, but these are beautifully proportioned trees, 
leaning a mite away from each other as the colum- 
nar stems ascend after the habit of most trees that 
grow too close together. They branch high up, and 
many of their branches have a downward droop at 
the end, and abundant twigs, making a fine spray, 
very effective against the wintry sky, when every curve 
and abrupt angle, and characteristic crook of the 
boughs is seen to the best advantage. Indeed, it is 
hard to find a straight line anywhere except sometimes 
in the trunk of one that has had room to develop, 
though that is usually not an upright, but a more or 
less slanting line. 
They have glossy leaves that look as if they were 
varnished and reflect the sun from their smooth sur- 
faces, or glitter after a shower like fairy mirrors. 
These are deep, dark green and towards the end 
of summer they are disfigured by many round holes 
made by the grubs of a small fly that feed upon the 
green coloring matter the leaves supply. This is a 
tree of many names besides its botanical one, for 
it is called in different parts of the country Black 
Gum, Sour Gum, Tupelo and Pepperidge. 
The dark blue fruits are small and sour, but seem 
to suit the palace of birds, and I find no better place 
for the study of rare warblers and other birds, that 
pause here to rest awhile on their southern flight, 
than the seat under the Sour Gums when these berries 
are ripe. 
The trees begin to brighten their foliage in Sep- 
tember ; a branch here and there will hang out a scar- 
let flag before the rest. In a few, days the whole tree 
will have caught on fire, as it were, and be one blaze 
of bright red, glowing in the autumn sunshine, like a 
huge bouquet of scarlet flowers. At this time the 
hold of the pedials upon the twigs is relaxed, shaken 
by the growth of the young buds which are crowding 
them out of place. Let a gale come from the west 
and the leaves take flight at once. In a day or two 
the grass underneath the trees and for yards around 
will be carpeted with them, long before the oaks, their 
near neighbors, have given a thought to their fall 
adorning. 
Besides the two fine specimens of Nyssa capitata 
there are several other Nyssas in the grove, some of 
them even more picturesque in their strange distor- 
tions. Their gnarled, twisted branches take on sur- 
prisingly eccentric curves and crooks. The trunks 
of these trees are bent as if they had been tortured by 
western gales, for they lean mainly to the southeast. 
These are the small-leaved Nyssas, N. biflora. They 
do not make such large trees as the other species, 
and they have a different fashion of being beautiful. 
They do not color as early in the season as N. syl- 
vatica, and the foliage is more persistent. Their gala 
robes are motley, made up of splashes of orange, 
patches of crimson streaks of yellow and various 
shades of salmon and wine tints. 
Although Nyssa biflora in its native haunts prefers 
wet and marshy places to keep its feet cool, yet it 
thrives on our dry hillsides and, with its relative, N. 
sylvatica, does more than any other class of trees 
to light up the autumn landscape. Park superintend- 
ents should plant them largel}^ for their beauty all 
the year around. Unfortunately the Tupelo is not 
an easy tree to transplant, and this may be the reason 
why it is not oftener seen in ornamental grounds. 
It has long roots, with few rootlets. It is also of 
quite slow growth, but is such a desirable tree for 
landscape effects that it is worth taking some trouble 
to establish. It is easily grown from seed, and the 
young plants can be set out in nursery rows and 
often transplanted, so that they are prepared in this 
manner for safe transportation later. Or they can 
be raised by seed planted where they are to remain. 
Besides the Nyssas I have described and the 
