Tupelo , genus ''Nyssa'' , is a small

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s with alternate, simple leaves. It is sometimes included in the subfamily Nyssoideae of the

dogwood ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods or cornels, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous ...

family,

Cornaceae The Cornaceae are a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants in the order Cornales. The family contains approximately 85 species in two genera, '' Alangium'' and '' Cornus''. They are mostly trees and shrubs, which may be deciduous or evergreen, ...

, but is placed by other authorities in the family

Nyssaceae Nyssaceae is a family of flowering trees sometimes included in the dogwood family (Cornaceae). Nyssaceae is composed of 37 known species in the following five genera:Averyanov, L. V. & Hiep, N. T. (2002). ''Diplopanax vietnamensis'', a New Speci ...

. In the

APG IV system The APG IV system of flowering plant classification is the fourth version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy for flowering plants (angiosperms) being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). It was publish ...

, it is placed in Nyssaceae. Most ''Nyssa'' species are highly tolerant of wet

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

s and

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ing, and some need such environments as habitat. Some of the species are

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, from southeastern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

through the Eastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. Other species are found in eastern and southeastern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

south through

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

and southwest to the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

Names

The genus name ''Nyssa'' refers to a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

water nymph In Greek mythology, the naiads (; ), sometimes also hydriads, are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who embodied ...

. The name tupelo, the common name used for ''Nyssa'', is of Native American origin, coming from the

Creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: * Creek people, a former name of Muscogee, Native Americans * C ...

words ''ito'' 'tree' and ''opilwa'' 'swamp'; it was in use by the mid-18th century. This tree should not be confused with the

tulip poplar ''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, lynn-tree, hickory-poplar, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ...

, ''

Liriodendron ''Liriodendron'' () is a genus of two species of characteristically large trees, deciduous tree, deciduous over most of their populations, in the magnolia family (biology), family (Magnoliaceae). These trees are widely known by the common name ...

sp''. The city of

Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1860, the population was 37,923 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 7th-most populous ...

, is named for this tree.

Species

Between seven and ten living species of ''Nyssa'' are recognized: * ''

Nyssa aquatica ''Nyssa aquatica'', commonly called the water tupelo, cottongum, wild olive, large tupelo, tupelo-gum, or water-gum, is a large, long-lived tree in the tupelo genus ''(Nyssa)'' that grows in swamps and floodplains in the Southeastern United Stat ...

'' L. – Water tupelo (southeastern United States) * ''

Nyssa biflora ''Nyssa biflora'', commonly referred to as the swamp tupelo, or swamp black-gum is a species of tupelo that lives in wetland habitats in the United States. Taxonomy Some authors treat swamp tupelo as a variety, ''Nyssa sylvatica'' var. ''biflora ...

'' Walter (or ''Nyssa sylvatica'' var. ''biflora'') – Swamp tupelo, or swamp black-gum * ''

Nyssa javanica Nyssa may refer to: People * Gregory of Nyssa (335–395), 4th-century Christian bishop, theologian, and saint * Nyssa (''Doctor Who''), a fictional character in ''Doctor Who'' * Nyssa Raatko, an adversary of the DC Comics character Batman * Ny ...

'' (Blume) Wangerin - Eastern Himalayas, Indochina, Borneo, Java, Sumatra * '' Nyssa ogeche'' W.Bartram ex Marshall – Ogeechee tupelo (southeastern United States) * '' Nyssa sinensis'' Oliv. – Chinese tupelo (southern China, Vietnam, Myanmar) * †'' Nyssa spatulata'' (Scott) Manchester (Extinct, Middle Eocene; Clarno Formation, Oregon) * ''

Nyssa sylvatica ''Nyssa sylvatica'', commonly known as tupelo, black tupelo, black gum or sour gum, is a medium-sized deciduous tree native to eastern North America from the coastal Northeastern United States and southern Ontario south to central Florida and ea ...

'' Marshall – Black tupelo or black-gum (eastern + central United States; eastern + southern Mexico; Ontario) * '' Nyssa talamancana'' Hammel & N.Zamora - (Panama, Costa Rica) * †'' Nyssa texana'' Berry ''-'' (Extinct, late Eocene to early Oligocene, Whitsett and Yeuga Formations, East Texas) * '' Nyssa ursina'' * ''

Nyssa yunnanensis ''Nyssa yunnanensis'' is a species of tree in the Tupelo (tree), Nyssa genus. It is a dioecious tree (meaning that it has distinct male and female individual organisms) reaching in height. This flowering canopy tree inhabits mountainous tropica ...

'' W.C.Yin – Yunnan tupelo (Yunnan)

Uses

Tupelo wood is used extensively by artistic

woodcarver Wood carving (or woodcarving) is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculpture, ...

s, especially for carving ducks and other wildfowl. It power carves excellently and holds good detail in the end grain. In commerce, it is used for shipping containers and interior parts of furniture, and is used extensively in the

veneer Veneer may refer to: Materials * Masonry veneer, a thin facing layer of brick * Stone veneer, a thin facing layer of stone * Veneer (dentistry), a cosmetic treatment for teeth * Wood veneer, a thin facing layer of wood Arts and entertainment * ' ...

and panel industry for crossbanding,

plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...

cores, and backs. The wood can be readily pulped and is used for high-grade book and magazine papers. In the past, the hollow trunks were used as "

bee gum A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus ''Honey bee, Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe th ...

s" to hold

beehives A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...

. Tupelos are popular

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

s for their mature form, shade, and spectacular

autumn leaf color Autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the normally green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on, during a few weeks in the autumn season, various shades of yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown. The phenomenon ...

s. Tupelos are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species, including ''

Endoclita damor ''Endoclita damor'' is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is known from India and the Himalayas. Food plants for this species include ''Albizia'', ''Altingia'', ''Cinchona'', ''Coffea'', ''Erythrina'', ''Eugenia'', ''Glochidion'', '' M ...

''. The Ogeechee Tupelo, sometimes referred to as the Ocheechee Lime, which is native to Georgia and north Florida produces an edible fruit in the form of a sour, oblong drupe.

Honey

Tupelos of the species '' Nyssa ogeche'' are valued as

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

plants in the southeastern United States, particularly in the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

region. They produce a very light, mild-tasting honey. In Florida,

beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees, a profession known as beekeeping. The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees in beehives, boxes, or other receptacles. The beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper ow ...

s keep beehives along the river swamps on platforms or floats during tupelo bloom to produce certified tupelo honey, which commands a high price on the market because of its flavor.

Monofloral honey Monofloral honey is a type of honey which has a distinctive flavor or other attribute due to its being predominantly from the nectar of a single plant species. It is stored and labeled separately so as to command a premium price. While there may ...

made from the nectar of ''Nyssa ogeche'' has such a high ratio of

fructose Fructose (), or fruit sugar, is a Ketose, ketonic monosaccharide, simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and gal ...

glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula , which is often abbreviated as Glc. It is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. It is mainly made by plants and most algae d ...

that it does not crystallize. The

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately long, in the state of Florida. The river's large drainage basin, watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint (ACF) River Basin, drains an area of approximately ...

in the

Florida panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...

is the center for tupelo honey. The honey is produced wherever tupelo trees (three species) bloom in the southeastern United States, but the purest and most expensive version (which is certified by

pollen analysis Palynology is the study of microorganisms and microscopic fragments of mega-organisms that are composed of acid-resistant organic material and occur in sediments, sedimentary rocks, and even some metasedimentary rocks. Palynomorphs are the mic ...

) is produced in this valley. In a good harvest year, the tupelo honey crop produced by a group of specialized Florida beekeepers has a value approaching $1,000,000.

Fossil record

Fruits conforming morphologically and anatomically to ''Nyssa'' have been identified from the

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campa ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. The fruits conform to a kind that is common in the

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

, formerly called ''Palaeonyssa''.Assessing the

Fossil Record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

Asterids Asterids are a large clade (monophyly, monophyletic group) of flowering plants, composed of 17 Order_(biology), orders and more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flowering plant species. The asterids are divided into the unranked cl ...

in the Context of Our Current

Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

Framework by Steven R. Manchester, Friðgeir Grímsson, and Reinhard Zetter,

Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden The ''Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden'' is a long-established major peer-reviewed journal of botany, established in 1914 by the Missouri Botanical Garden, under the directorship of botanist and phycologist, George Thomas Moore, and still ...

Aug 2015 : Vol. 100, Issue 4, pg(s) 329-363 doi: 10.3417/2014033

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Nyssa'' (tupelo)

including many photos, from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q964952 Nyssa (genus) Swamps of Florida