Black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica): what the agencies record

This page reports what US federal publications say about one tree. It does not identify trees from descriptions or photos and does not say what should be done with any tree. The family overview, tree species in the agency records, explains the sources and holds the comparison table.

At a glance

Item	What the source records
Scientific name	Nyssa sylvatica Marsh., dogwood family; two varieties, var. sylvatica (black tupelo) and var. biflora (swamp tupelo)
Other names	Blackgum, sourgum, pepperidge, tupelo and tupelogum for the typical variety; swamp tupelo and swamp blackgum for var. biflora (Silvics)
Native status, USDA PLANTS	Native in Canada and in the lower 48 states (listed as blackgum)
Size, Silvics	Heights of 36 m (120 ft) and diameters up to 122 cm (48 in) on the most favorable sites
Green weight of the wood, NRS-38	58 lb per cubic foot, without bark

Native range

The Silvics of North America handbook (Agriculture Handbook 654, volume 2, 1990) says black tupelo is divided into two commonly recognised varieties, typical black tupelo on light-textured soils of uplands and stream bottoms and swamp tupelo on heavy organic or clay soils of wet bottom lands, that the two intermingle in some Coastal Plain areas and are then hard to differentiate. It gives the range of typical black tupelo as the uplands and alluvial stream bottoms from southwestern Maine to New York, extreme southern Ontario, central Michigan, Illinois and central Missouri, and south to eastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas and southern Florida, with a local occurrence in central and southern Mexico. It says optimum development is on lower slopes and terraces in the Southeast and that the tree is found from creek bottoms of the southern coastal plains to 910 m (3,000 ft) in North Carolina.

The swamp tupelo variety grows chiefly in the Coastal Plain from Delaware, eastern Maryland and southeastern Virginia south to southern Florida and west to eastern Texas, on wet bottomland soils including organic mucks, heavy clays and wet sands. The handbook says it not only tolerates flooding but thrives under those conditions.

Flowers, fruit and growth

Silvics says black tupelo is polygamo-dioecious and flowers from April through June, with small greenish white flowers borne singly or in clusters. The fruit is an oblong blue-black drupe about 13 mm (0.5 in) long that ripens in September and October and drops from September through November. The handbook describes a moderate growth rate and longevity, says diameter growth on medium sites with good stand position may reach 10 to 20 cm over a 10-year span, and says growth can be very slow on poor sites or when crowded. It adds that trees on good, unburned sites can produce veneer logs of about 50 cm (20 in) in diameter, and that a majority of stems are not considered desirable growing stock and are often left standing after commercial timber sales.

Wildlife and special uses

The handbook calls black tupelo an important wildlife species because of its wide range, frequency and the palatability of its fruit and sprouts. The fruit is high in crude fat, fiber, phosphorus and calcium and is eaten by many birds and animals. It says the tree is a prolific producer of cavities and usually ranked as one of the more dependable den tree species, and that it is a good honey tree and often planted as an ornamental.

Wood

The Wood Handbook (FPL-GTR-282, 2021) groups the tupelo species, saying the wood is quite similar in appearance and properties. The heartwood is light brownish gray and merges gradually into lighter sapwood that is generally many centimetres wide, with a fine, uniform texture and interlocked grain. The wood is moderately heavy, moderately strong, moderately hard and stiff, and moderately high in shock resistance. The handbook says wood from the buttresses of trees growing in swamps or flooded areas is much lighter than wood from the upper parts of the same trees, and that because of interlocked grain tupelo lumber requires care in drying. It lists lumber, veneer, pulpwood, some railroad crossties and slack cooperage, with lumber going into boxes, pallets, crates, baskets and furniture. Silvics adds that the light, uniform wood makes excellent containers, that much merchantable upland black tupelo goes into crossties and pallets, and that black tupelo produces a pronounced ribbon figure and is often quarter sliced for veneer. The strength table below is for black tupelo; the NRS-38 weight is listed under the name blackgum.

Wood Handbook Table 5-3b	Specific gravity	Modulus of rupture (lbf per square inch)	Side hardness (lbf)
Green	0.46	7,000	640
At 12% moisture content	0.50	9,600	810

The Wood Handbook states that specific gravity is based on oven-dry weight and the volume when green or at 12% moisture content. The green weight of the wood without bark is in the NRS-38 table, the same figure used in the log weight calculator.

Fire, decay and pests the handbook names

Silvics (1990) names these agents by the names it used.

Fire and heart rot. The handbook says black tupelo, particularly on dry sites, is often affected by fire, and that hot fires can cause serious mortality and cull. Fire scars often serve as entry points for large numbers of heart rot fungi, and 10 of 25 black tupelo samples in a study of the central hardwood region had heart rot.
Insects. The tupelo leafminer (Antispila nysaefoliella) and the forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria) attack the tupelos.

The guide on reporting a pest in the United States and the Canada reporting page give the offices that take sightings of regulated pests. Who may apply pesticides is in pesticide licences by country.