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|common_name=Black Tupelo
|common_name=Black Tupelo
|habit=tree
|habit=tree
|features=deciduous
|habit_ref=Complete Landscaping - ISBN 9780376009272
|Min ht box=30
|Min ht metric=ft
|Max ht box=50
|Max ht metric=ft
|height_ref=Complete Landscaping - ISBN 9780376009272
|lifespan=perennial
|life_ref=Complete Landscaping - ISBN 9780376009272
|exposure=sun
|water=moist, moderate
|water_ref=Complete Landscaping - ISBN 9780376009272
|features=deciduous, birds, fall color
|Temp Metric=°F
|Temp Metric=°F
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|min_zone=4
|usda_ref=Complete Landscaping - ISBN 9780376009272
|max_zone=9.5
|image=Black Tupelo, West Point, NY.jpg
|image=Black Tupelo, West Point, NY.jpg
|image_width=180
|image_width=180
|image_caption=Black Tupelo
|image_caption=Black Tupelo
}}
}}
'''''Nyssa sylvatica''''', commonly known as the '''Black Tupelo''', is a medium-sized [[deciduous]] [[tree]] which grows around 20-25 m (65-80 ft) tall (rarely to 35 m) and a trunk diameter of 50-100 cm (20-40 in) (rarely up to 170 cm). It is native to eastern [[North America]], from [[New England]] and southern [[Ontario]] south to central [[Florida]] and eastern [[Texas]].
'''''Nyssa sylvatica''''', commonly known as the '''Black Tupelo''', is a medium-sized [[deciduous]] [[tree]] which grows around 20-25 m (65-80 ft) tall (rarely to 35 m) and a trunk diameter of 50-100 cm (20-40 in) (rarely up to 170 cm). It is native to eastern [[North America]], from [[New England]] and southern [[Ontario]] south to central [[Florida]] and eastern [[Texas]].
The species is often known as simply '''Tupelo''', but the full name '''Black Tupelo''' helps distinguish it from the other species of [[tupelo]], some of which ([[Water Tupelo]] ''N. aquatica'' and [[Swamp Tupelo]] ''N. biflora'') occur in the same area. The name Tupelo is of [[North American Indians|Native American]] origin. Other names include '''Blackgum''', '''Pepperidge''', '''Sourgum''', and (on [[Martha's Vineyard]]) '''Beetlebung''', this last perhaps from the mallet known as a beetle, used for hammering [[bung]]s, or stoppers, into. The scientific name means "water nymph of the woods" in [[Latin language|Latin]].
The species is often known as simply '''Tupelo''', but the full name '''Black Tupelo''' helps distinguish it from the other species of [[tupelo]], some of which ([[Water Tupelo]] ''N. aquatica'' and [[Swamp Tupelo]] ''N. biflora'') occur in the same area. The name Tupelo is of [[North American Indians|Native American]] origin. Other names include '''Blackgum''', '''Pepperidge''', '''Sourgum''', and (on [[Martha's Vineyard]]) '''Beetlebung''', this last perhaps from the mallet known as a beetle, used for hammering [[bung]]s, or stoppers, into. The scientific name means "water nymph of the woods" in [[Latin language|Latin]].
[[Image:Nyssa sylvatica.jpg|left|thumb|Black Tupelo mature fruit and starting fall color]]
[[Image:Nyssa sylvatica.jpg|left|thumb|Black Tupelo mature fruit and starting fall color]]
The [[leaf]] of Black Tupelo is variable in size and shape. It can be oval, elliptical or obovate, and 5-12 cm (2-5 in) long. It is lustrous, with entire, often wavy margins. The leaf turns purple in autumn, eventually becoming an intense bright scarlet. The [[flower]] is very small, in greenish-white in clusters at the top of a long stalk. The [[fruit]] is a black-blue, ovoid stone fruit, about 10 mm long with a thin, oily, bitter-to-sour tasting flesh. There are from one to three such fruit together on a long slender stalk. The [[bark]] is dark grey and flaky when young, but it becomes furrowed with age, resembling [[alligator]] hide on very old stems. The twigs of this tree are reddish-brown, usually hidden by a greyish skin. The pith is chambered with greenish partitions. The branches typically stand at right angles to the trunk.
The [[leaf]] of Black Tupelo is variable in size and shape. It can be oval, elliptical or obovate, and 5-12 cm (2-5 in) long. It is lustrous, with entire, often wavy margins. The leaf turns purple in autumn, eventually becoming an intense bright scarlet. The [[flower]] is very small, in greenish-white in clusters at the top of a long stalk. The [[fruit]] is a black-blue, ovoid stone fruit, about 10 mm long with a thin, oily, bitter-to-sour tasting flesh. There are from one to three such fruit together on a long slender stalk. The [[bark]] is dark grey and flaky when young, but it becomes furrowed with age, resembling [[alligator]] hide on very old stems. The twigs of this tree are reddish-brown, usually hidden by a greyish skin. The pith is chambered with greenish partitions. The branches typically stand at right angles to the trunk.
[[Image:Nyssa sylvatica JPG1a.jpg|right|thumb|Black Tupelo in the autumn.]]
[[Image:Nyssa sylvatica JPG1a.jpg|right|thumb|Black Tupelo in the autumn.]]
* Wood: Pale yellow, sapwood white; heavy, strong, very tough, hard to split, not durable in contact with the soil. Used for turnery. Sp. gr., 0.6353; weight of cu. ft., 39.59.
* Wood: Pale yellow, sapwood white; heavy, strong, very tough, hard to split, not durable in contact with the soil. Used for turnery. Sp. gr., 0.6353; weight of cu. ft., 39.59.
* Winter buds: Dark red, obtuse, one-fourth of an inch long. Inner scales enlarge with the growing shoot, becoming red before they fall.
* Winter buds: Dark red, obtuse, one-fourth of an inch long. Inner scales enlarge with the growing shoot, becoming red before they fall.
* Leaves: Alternate, often crowded at the end of the lateral branches, simple, linear, oblong to oval, two to five inches (127 mm) long, one-half to three inches (76 mm) broad, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, entire, with margin slightly thickened, acute or acuminate. They come out of the bud conduplicate, coated beneath with rusty tomentum, when full grown are thick, dark green, very shining above, pale and often hairy beneath. Feather-veined, midrib and primary veins prominent beneath. In autumn they turn bright scarlet, or yellow and scarlet. Petioles one-quarter to one-half an inch long, slender or stout, terete or margined, often red.
* Leaves: Alternate, often crowded at the end of the lateral branches, simple, linear, oblong to oval, two to five inches (127 mm) long, one-half to three inches (76 mm) broad, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, entire, with margin slightly thickened, acute or acuminate. They come out of the bud conduplicate, coated beneath with rusty tomentum, when full grown are thick, dark green, very shining above, pale and often hairy beneath. Feather-veined, midrib and primary veins prominent beneath. In autumn they turn bright scarlet, or yellow and scarlet. Petioles one-quarter to one-half an inch long, slender or stout, terete or margined, often red.
* Flowers: May, June, when leaves are half grown. Polygamodiœcious, yellowish green, borne on slender downy peduncles. Staminate in many-flowered heads; pistillate in two to several flowered clusters.
* Flowers: May, June, when leaves are half grown. Polygamodiœcious, yellowish green, borne on slender downy peduncles. Staminate in many-flowered heads; pistillate in two to several flowered clusters.
* Calyx: Cup-shaped, five-toothed.
* Calyx: Cup-shaped, five-toothed.
