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Nyssa sylvatica Marshall. Sour Gum, Black Gum, Pepperidge. Phen: Apr-Jun; Aug-Oct. Hab: Dry or mesic upland forests, less commonly in bottomlands, pine savannas, or upland depressions, where occasionally inundated briefly. Dist: S. ME west to MI and se. WI, south to c. peninsular FL, west to e. TX and e. OK; disjunct in Mexico (CHP, HGO, NLE, PUE, TAM, VER).

ID notes: The leaves turn a brilliant orange-red in fall (often a few on any tree coloring prematurely in Jul or Aug).

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Taxonomy Comments: The status of varieties recognized by previous authors (such as Fernald 1950) needs reassessment; N. sylvatica is quite variable in morphology and ecology, at least some of the morphologic variation correlated with geography and ecology, but not so far readily tractable taxonomically. In the Mountains of our area, N. sylvatica is typically found in dry woodlands, such as pine-oak/heath, with xerophytic species such as Pinus virginiana and Quercus montana. In the outer Coastal Plain of the Carolinas, a swamp variant of N. sylvatica often occurs in wet savannas with Pinus serotina, where often mistaken (because of the wetland habitat and some superficial similarities) for N. biflora. Zhou et al. (2018) studied the Nyssa sylvatica with molecular methods; their results were not encouraging for the recognition of varieties within N. sylvatica.

Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, FNA12, G, K1, K3, K4, Meso4.1, Mi, Mo2, NcTx, NY, Pa, S, S13, Va, WV, Burckhalter (1992), Ward (2008b), Zhou et al (2018); = Nyssa sylvatica Marshall var. sylvatica – C, Fl5, GW2, RAB, Tn, Tx, WH3, Eyde (1966), Wen & Stuessy (1993); > Nyssa sylvatica Marshall var. caroliniana (Poir.) Fernald – F, Il; > Nyssa sylvatica Marshall var. dilatata Fernald – F, Tat; > Nyssa sylvatica Marshall var. sylvatica – F, Il, Tat

Links to other floras: = Nyssa sylvatica - FNA12

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Wetland Indicator Status:

  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FAC
  • Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FAC
  • Great Plains: FAC
  • Midwest: FAC
  • Northcentral & Northeast: FAC

Heliophily ⓘ: 5

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image of plant© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Erik Danielson source | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Joey Shaw source | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Keith Bradley | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Scott Ward, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Scott Ward source CC-BY | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Keith Bradley | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Scott Ward, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Scott Ward source CC-BY | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Erik Danielson source | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Bruce A. Sorrie | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Joey Shaw source | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Alan Cressler: Nyssa sylvatica, near Chattahoochee River, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, East Palisades, Fulton County, Georgia 1 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Radford, Ahles and Bell | Original Image ⭷

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Horticultural Information

NCBG trait

Intro:

Stems: Pith continuous or diaphragmed. Young twigs (1-year-old or less) brown or green or orange or reddish-brown, glabrous or glabrate or pubescent. Twigs (2-4 years old) glabrous. Leaf scars crescent-shaped or half-round or heart-shaped or triangular, bundle scars 3 per leaf scar, stipule scars absent. Bark of mature trunks checkered or furrowed or ridged. Buds axillary or superposed or terminal, brown or red or reddish-brown, 3-6 mm long, ovoid, blunt or sharp, pubescent, bud scales imbricate.

Leaves: Leaves deciduous, simple, petiolate, alternate, (2.5-)5-15 cm long, (1.3-)2.5-10 cm wide, oblanceloate or obovate or oval or ovate, leaf margins entire or dentate, leaf apices acuminate or acute or obtuse, leaf bases cuneate or rounded. Leaf upper surface green, glabrous or glabrate. Leaf lower surface green, glabrous or glabrate or pubescent or with tufts in vein axils, villous. Leaf venation pinnate. Petioles (0.6-)1-2.5(-3.8) cm long, glabrous or pubescent, winged. Stipules absent.

Inforescence: Inflorescences axillary, fascicles or heads or racemes or flowers solitary or simple umbels, flowers sessile or stalked.

Flowers: Flowers bisexual or unisexual or pistillate or staminate, epigynous. Perianth. Sepals 5 per flower. Petals 5 per flower, spreading or ascending, green or white, oblong or ovate, petal apices acute or rounded, caducous. Androecium. Stamens 5-12 per flower. Gynoecium. Ovaries inferior, pistils 1 per flower. Gynoecium syncarpous, 2 carpels per flower, styles 1 per pistil, styles 1.5-3.5 mm long, placentation apical. Hypanthia present.

Fruits: Fruits drupes, (0.7-)1-1.5 cm long, black or blue, fruit maturation 1 years.

Comments: Leaves often crowded at the ends of branchlets; branches perpendicular to the trunk.

Height: 60 plus feet

plant sale text: Black-gum is one of our most adaptable SE trees, growing on dry slopes and low, moist forests. Though its leaves are somewhat nondescript, its has a curious way of branching that makes it easily identifiable in the field; nearly all of its branches are borne at exactly 90 degree angles from the trunk of the tree. The best thing about Black-gum is its fall color. Its leaves turn dark red before any other species have started changing. Its fruits are an important source of food to birds migrating in the fall.

bloom table text:

description:

stems: Pith continuous or diaphragmed. Young twigs (1-year-old or less) brown or green or orange or reddish-brown, glabrous or glabrate or pubescent. Twigs (2-4 years old) glabrous. Leaf scars crescent-shaped or half-round or heart-shaped or triangular, bundle scars 3 per leaf scar, stipule scars absent. Bark of mature trunks checkered or furrowed or ridged. Buds axillary or superposed or terminal, brown or red or reddish-brown, 3-6 mm long, ovoid, blunt or sharp, pubescent, bud scales imbricate.

leaves: Leaves deciduous, simple, petiolate, alternate, (2.5-)5-15 cm long, (1.3-)2.5-10 cm wide, oblanceloate or obovate or oval or ovate, leaf margins entire or dentate, leaf apices acuminate or acute or obtuse, leaf bases cuneate or rounded. Leaf upper surface green, glabrous or glabrate. Leaf lower surface green, glabrous or glabrate or pubescent or with tufts in vein axils, villous. Leaf venation pinnate. Petioles (0.6-)1-2.5(-3.8) cm long, glabrous or pubescent, winged. Stipules absent.

inflorescence: Inflorescences axillary, fascicles or heads or racemes or flowers solitary or simple umbels, flowers sessile or stalked.

flowers: Flowers bisexual or unisexual or pistillate or staminate, epigynous. Perianth. Sepals 5 per flower. Petals 5 per flower, spreading or ascending, green or white, oblong or ovate, petal apices acute or rounded, caducous. Androecium. Stamens 5-12 per flower. Gynoecium. Ovaries inferior, pistils 1 per flower. Gynoecium syncarpous, 2 carpels per flower, styles 1 per pistil, styles 1.5-3.5 mm long, placentation apical. Hypanthia present.

fruits: Fruits drupes, (0.7-)1-1.5 cm long, black or blue, fruit maturation 1 years.

comments: Leaves often crowded at the ends of branchlets; branches perpendicular to the trunk.

cultural notes:

germination code:

native range: eastern United States