Alternate name: Blackgum, Sourgum

Family: Cornaceae, Dogwood view all from this family

Description Tree with a dense, conical or sometimes flat-topped crown, many slender, nearly horizontal branches, and glossy foliage turning scarlet in autumn.
Height: 50-100' (15-30 m).
Diameter: 2-3' (0.6-0.9 m).
Leaves: 2-5" (5-13 cm) long, 1-3" (2.5-7.5 cm) wide. Elliptical or oblong; not toothed (rarely with a few teeth); slightly thickened; often crowded on short twigs. Shiny green above, pale and often hairy beneath; turning bright red in early autumn.
Bark: gray or dark brown; thick, rough, deeply furrowed into rectangular or irregular ridges.
Twigs: light brown; slender, often hairy, with some short spurs.
Flowers: greenish; at end of long stalks at base of new leaves in early spring; many tiny male flowers in heads 1/2" (12 mm) wide; 2-6 female flowers 3/16" (5 mm) long; male and female usually on separate trees.
Fruit: 3/8-1/2" (10-12 mm) long; berrylike, elliptical, blue-black; with thin bitter or sour pulp; stone slightly 10- to 12-ridged; maturing in autumn.

Habitat Moist soils of valleys and uplands in hardwood and pine forests.

Range Extreme S. Ontario east to SW. Maine, south to S. Florida, west to E. Texas, and north to central Michigan; local in Mexico; to 4000' (1219 m), sometimes higher in southern Appalachians.

Discussion A handsome ornamental and shade tree, Black Tupelo is also a honey plant. The juicy fruit is consumed by many birds and mammals. Swamp Tupelo (var. biflora (Walt.) Sarg.), a variety with narrower oblong leaves, occurs in swamps in the Coastal Plain from Delaware to eastern Texas.