Нисса сыльватика: описание и ареал распространения

Species of tree

Nyssa sylvatica, commonly known as tupelo, black tupelo, blackgum 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 eastern Texas, as well as Mexico.

Nyssa sylvatica genus name, Nyssa, refers to a Greek water nymph; the species epithet sylvatica refers to its woodland habitat. While these trees are often known as simply "tupelo", the fuller name, black tupelo, helps distinguish it from the other species of the tupelo genus Nyssa, some of which have overlapping ranges, such as water tupelo (N. aquatica) and swamp tupelo (N. biflora). The name "tupelo" is used primarily in the American South; northward and in Appalachia, the tree is more commonly called the black gum or the sour gum, although no part of the plant is particularly gummy. "Yellow Gum is not a swamp tree, like Black Gum, but an inhabitant of dry land, hills, and the coves of the southern Appalachians which it ascends to 3500 feet.

Nyssa sylvatica grows to tall, rarely to , with a trunk diameter of , rarely up to These trees typically have a straight trunk with the branches extending outward at right angles.

Nyssa sylvatica grows in various uplands and in alluvial stream bottoms from southwestern Maine and New York, to extreme southern Ontario, central Michigan, Illinois, and central Missouri, south to southern Florida, eastern Texas, and eastern Oklahoma. Optimum development is made on lower slopes and terraces in the Southeastern United States. It also occurs locally in the mountains of eastern and southern Mexico, where it is found in the southern Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre de Oaxaca of Hidalgo, Puebla, and Veracruz states and the Chiapas Highlands of Chiapas. Hollow trunks provide nesting or denning opportunities for bees and various mammals. It is the longest living non clonal flowering plant in Eastern North America, capable of obtaining ages of over 650 years.

Nyssa sylvatica is found in a wide range of climates, due to its extensive distribution. It commonly grows in both the creek bottoms of the southern coastal plains, to altitudes of about in the Southern Appalachians. These trees grow 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. The species occurs 35 different forest cover types.

Nyssa sylvatica is an important food source for many migrating birds in the fall [autumn]. Its early color change (foliar fruit flagging) is thought to attract birds to the available fruit, which ripen before many other fall fruits and berries. The fruit is quite marked, dark blue, in clusters of two or three. The sour fruits are eagerly sought by many kinds of birds, including: American robin, Swainson's thrush, gray cheeked thrush, hermit thrush, wood thrush, northern cardinal, northern mockingbird, blue jay, red bellied woodpecker, yellow bellied sapsucker, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, eastern phoebe, brown thrasher, eastern bluebird, European starling, scarlet tanager, gray catbird, cedar waxwing, and American crow, all primarily eastern North American birds migrating or residing year round within the tree's range. The limbs of these trees often deteriorate early, and the decayed holes make excellent dens for squirrels, raccoons, Virginia opossums, as well as nesting sites for feral honeybees. The leaves are mined by larvae of the tupelo leafminer moth and eaten by forest tent caterpillars.

Nyssa sylvatica is cultivated as an ornamental tree in parks and large gardens, where it is often used as a specimen or shade tree. The tree is best when grown in sheltered but not crowded positions, developing a pyramidal shape in youth, and spreading with age. The stem rises to the summit of the tree in one tapering unbroken shaft, the branches come out at right angles to the trunk and either extend horizontally or droop a little, making a long narrow, cone like head. The leaves are short petioled and so have little individual motion, but the branches sway as a whole. The spray is fine and abundant and lies horizontally so that the foliage arrangement is not unlike that of the beech (Fagus). Its often spectacular autumnal coloring, with intense reds to purples, is highly valued in landscape settings. It is claimed to be the most fiery and brilliant of the 'brilliant group' that includes maple, dogwood, sassafras, and sweet gum, as well as various species of tupelo.

Nyssa sylvatica is a major source of wild honey in many areas within its range. Hollow sections of black gum trunks were formerly used as bee gums by beekeepers.

The wood of Nyssa sylvatica is heavy, hard, cross grained, and difficult to split, especially after drying. This resistance to splitting led to its use for making mauls, pulleys, wheel hubs, agricultural rollers, bowls, and paving blocks. The wood's resistance to wear and some acids has led to its use as factory flooring.

It was also used traditionally by Native Americans as a teeth cleaning twig. It also was used for dipping snuff.