The LEAVES are doubly compounded, or bi-pinnate, the main [rachis] (leaf-stem) 3 or 4 feet long, clasping the stem with an enlarged base, and leaving conspicuous scars when they fall. The [oval] [leaflets] are toothed, pointed, dark green above and paler beneath. They turn yellow in autumn.
In mid-summer each plant bears one immense [panicle] of small, white FLOWERS, which rises well above the leaves. The tree presents its most striking appearance in autumn when the small black [FRUIT] ripens, for the fruit-stems turn a rich wine-red. Birds eat the juicy [drupes]. The WOOD is of no commercial importance.
BLACK TUPELO (Blackgum)
Nyssa sylvatica Marsh.
Black gum, often called sour gum, is found in eastern Texas to the valley of the Brazos River; usually in swampy wet soil, but sometimes on dry slopes with the oaks.
The [BARK] on younger trees is furrowed between flat ridges, and gradually develops into quadrangular blocks that are dense, hard, and nearly black.
BLACK TUPELO (Twig, leaf, and [fruit] one-half natural size)
The LEAVES are [simple], 2 to 3 inches long, entire, [obovate] to elliptic, shiny, and dark green in color. In the fall the leaves turn brilliant red.
The greenish FLOWERS on long, slender peduncles appear in early spring when the leaves are about one-third grown. They are usually of two kinds, the male in many-flowered heads, and the female in two or several-flowered clusters on different trees. The [FRUIT] is drupe-like, dark blue ⅔ inch long, containing a single hard-shelled stone, and is borne 2 to 3 in a cluster on 1 to 2½-inch peduncles.
The WOOD is very tough, cross-grained, not durable in contact with the soil, hard to work, and warps easily. Once considered a weed tree, the species is now valuable for basket veneer, box boards, and paper pulp. In the old days, the hollow trunks were used for “bee-gums.”