Skip to content
Tree · Nyssaceae Draft — unreviewed

Black gum

Nyssa sylvatica Marshall

Also called black gum, black tupelo, sour gum.

Glossy-leaved native tree with some of the most reliable scarlet fall colour of any species. Small blue fruit feeds migrating birds; flowers are a key bee forage.

Size over time

Typical landscape size 10–18 m (33–59 ft) tall and 6–9 m (20–30 ft) wide; medium growth, about 25 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.25) from the BB-2in install size.

051015mPlanting3.4 × 1.5 mYear 39.0 × 4.7 mYear 1013.1 × 7.0 mMature14.0 × 7.5 m

Design notes

  • Deep taproot — plant young container or small B&B trees.
  • Tolerates wet soils and short flooding, but also performs on drier upland sites.

Regions

Native range: Eastern North America.

Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:

NortheastSoutheast

Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.

Related plants

Red maple
Acer rubrum · Tree · 12–18 m (39–59 ft)
Sugar maple
Acer saccharum · Tree · 15–22 m (49–72 ft)
Downy serviceberry
Amelanchier arborea · Tree · 5–8 m (16–26 ft)
River birch
Betula nigra · Tree · 12–18 m (39–59 ft)
American hornbeam
Carpinus caroliniana · Tree · 6–9 m (20–30 ft)
Eastern redbud
Cercis canadensis · Tree · 6–9 m (20–30 ft)

Plan with Black gum

Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.

Start designing Try a sample garden