Black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) is divided into two commonly recognized varieties, typical black tupelo (var. sylvatica) and swamp tupelo (var. biflora). They are usually identifiable by their differences in habitats: black tupelo on light-textured soils of uplands and stream bottoms, swamp tupelo on heavy organic or clay soils of wet bottom lands. They do intermingle in some Coastal Plain areas and in those cases are hard to differentiate. These trees have moderate growth rate and longevity and are an excellent food source for wildlife, fine honey trees, and handsome ornamentals.

Black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica var. sylvatica) is also widely known as blackgum; other common names include sourgum, pepperidge, tupelo, and tupelogum.

Habitat

Native Range

Black tupelo grows in the uplands and in alluvial stream bottoms from southwestern Maine to New York, to extreme southern Ontario, central Michigan, Illinois, and central Missouri, and south to eastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas, and southern Florida. It is local in central and southern Mexico. Optimum development is made on lower slopes and terraces in the Southeastern United States.

Range of Black Tupelo

Climate

Due to its wide distribution, black tupelo is found in a variety of climates with a wide range of temperatures. Rainfall throughout the range averages about 1270 mm (50 in) per year. In the South and Southeast, more than half of the rain falls during the growing season while in the northerly and westerly extremes of the range, substantially less than half of the rain falls during the growing period.

Soils and Topography

Black tupelo is found on a wide variety of sites from the creek bottoms of the southern coastal plains to altitudes of 910 m (3,000 ft) in North Carolina. The variety grows best on well-drained, light-textured soils on the low ridges of second bottoms and on the high flats of silty alluvium. In the uplands it grows best on the loams and clay loams of lower slopes and coves. When found on drier upper slopes and ridges, it is seldom of log size or quality (8). Approximately two-thirds of the species range is dominated by soils of the order Ultisols, with Udults as the principal suborder.

Associated Forest Cover

Black tupelo is not predominant in any major forest type; however, it is a component of 35 forest cover types (3). In New England it is associated with Black Ash-American Elm-Red Maple (Society of American Foresters Type 39). In the central and southern forest regions, it is found in the following types:

40 Post Oak-Blackjack Oak
43 Bear Oak
44 Chestnut Oak
45 Pitch Pine
46 Eastern Redcedar
51 White Pine-Chestnut Oak
52 White Oak-Black Oak-Northern Red Oak
53 White Oak
55 Northern Red Oak
57 Yellow-Poplar
58 Yellow-Poplar-Eastern Hemlock
59 Yellow-Poplar-White Oak-Northern Red Oak
65 Pin Oak-Sweetgum.
70 Longleaf Pine
75 Shortleaf Pine
76 Shortleaf Pine-Oak
78 Virginia Pine--Oak
79 Virginia Pine
80 Loblolly Pine-Shortleaf Pine
81 Loblolly Pine
82 Loblolly Pine-Hardwood
83 Longleaf Pine-Slash Pine
85 Slash Pine-Hardwood
87 Sweetgum-Yellow-Poplar
91 Swamp Chestnut Oak-Cherrybark Oak
93 Sugarberry-American Elm-Green Ash
97 Atlantic White-Cedar
100 Pondcypress
104 Sweetbay-Swamp Tupelo--Redbay
110 Black Oak

Life History

Reproduction and Early Growth

Flowering and Fruiting

Black tupelo is polygamo-dioecious and flowers from April through June. The fruit of black tupelo ripens in September and October and drops from September through November. The flowers are small and greenish white, home singly or in capitate clusters. The fruit, an oblong drupe, is about 13 mm (0.5 in) long and is blue-black; the pit is indistinctly ribbed (2).

Seed Production and Dissemination

Seed production in black tupelo is highly variable. Seeds are disseminated by gravity, animals, and birds (2).

Seedling Development

Under natural conditions, seeds overwinter on cool moist soil and germinate in the spring. Germination is epigeal (2). Black tupelo requires nearly full light for optimum development. In a mature hardwood forest on a good site in Tennessee, 830 black tupelo/ha (337/acre) were well distributed over a 24/ha (60/acre) area. Two years following clearcutting there were 1,880 black tupelo/ha (760/acre) less than 1.37 m (4.5 ft) in height, and 375/ha (150/acre) more than 1.37 rn (4.5 ft) tall. In four good young hardwood stands in northern Alabama, black tupelo ranged from 1,790 to 2,965 stems/ha (725 to 1,200/acre) 5 or 6 years after clearcutting. When three of the areas were burned as part of a controlled experiment, the number of small tupelo per hectare approximately doubled the first year; the number of stems taller than 1.37 m (4.5 ft) decreased by about 50 percent (5).

Vegetative Reproduction

Smaller black tupelo stumps sprout readily and larger stumps sprout occasionally. Root suckering can occur in profusion around some trees. Layering has been used to produce black tupelo stock.

Sapling and Pole Stages to Maturity

Growth and Yield

Black tupelo can achieve heights of 36 in (120 ft) and diameters up to 122 cm (48 in) at breast height on the most favorable sites. Diameter growth on medium sites where the tree has good stand position may reach 10 to 20 cm (4 to 5 in) in 10 years. On poorer sites or where the tree is crowded, diameter and height growth can be very slow (7). Black tupelo growing on good sites that have not been burned can produce veneer logs. Most logs suitable for veneer are about 50 cm (20 in) in d.b.h. Black tupelo produces a pronounced ribbon figure and is often quarter sliced (6). The light, uniform-textured wood of tupelo makes excellent containers. Much of the merchantable upland black tupelo is used for crossties and pallets. A majority of stems are not considered desirable growing stock and are often left standing following commercial timber sales. These stems are usually moderately easy to control with herbicides.

Rooting Habit

No information available.

Reaction to Competition

Black tupelo is usually found in mixture with other species. It is classed as tolerant of shade. Only rarely does it attain a dominant crown position within its age group; it usually occupies an intermediate crown position on most sites. Some intermediate black tupelo stems respond favorably to release from overtopping vegetation. Seedlings grow slowly under a fully stocked stand. When the canopy is removed, about 25 percent or more can be expected to respond with relatively rapid height growth. Large numbers of new seedlings can become established at the time of cutting.

Damaging Agents

Black tupelo, particularly where it grows on dry sites, is often affected by fire. Hot fires can cause serious mortality and cull. Fire scars often serve as entry courts for large numbers of heart rot fungi. Ten of 25 black tupelo samples in a study of the central hardwood region had heart rot (1).

The tupelo leafminer (Antispila nysaefoliella) and the forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria) attack the tupelos.

Special Uses

Because of its wide range, frequency of occurrence, and the palatability of its fruit and sprouts, black tupelo is an important wildlife species (4). The fruit, high in crude fat, fiber, phosphorous, and calcium, are eaten by many birds and animals. Young sprouts are relished by white-tailed deer but lose palatability with age. Because it is a prolific producer of cavities, black tupelo is usually ranked as one of the more dependable den tree species. Black tupelo is a good honey tree and is often planted as an ornamental

Literature Cited

   1. Berry, F. H. 1977. Decay in yellow-poplar, maple, blackgum, and ash in the central hardwood region. USDA Forest Service, Research Note NE-242. Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Broomall, PA. 4 p.
   2. Bonner, F. T. 1974. Nyssa L. Tupelo. In Seeds of woody plants in the United States. p. 554-557. C. S. Schopmeyer, tech. coord. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook 450. Washington, DC.
   3. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, DC. 148 p.
   4. Halls, Lowell K. 1977. Black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica var. sylvatica Marsh.); swamp tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora (Walt.) Sarg.). In Southern fruit-producing woody plants used by wildlife. p. 62-64. USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report SO-16. Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, LA.
   5. Huntley, J. C., and C. E. McGee. 1981. Timber and wildlife implications of fire in young upland hardwoods. In Proceedings, Southern Silvicultural Research Conference, Nov. 6-7, 1980, Atlanta, GA. p. 56-66. USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report SO-34. Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, LA.
   6. Lutz, J. F. 1972. Veneer species that grow in the United States. USDA Forest Service, Research Paper FPL-167. Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI. 127 p.
   7. Putnam, J. A. 1951. Management of bottom land hardwoods. USDA Forest Service, Occasional Paper 116. Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, LA. 60 p.
   8. Putnam, John A., George M. Furnival, and J. S. McKnight. 1960. Management and inventory of southern hardwoods. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook 181. Washington, DC. 102 p.