Black Gum Tree Fruit Messy
I wouldn t put any black gum near a deck or patio though if you don t like the idea of bird poop.
Black gum tree fruit messy. The dense shade of the tree may make it impossible to grow grass or other plants. Raised leaf spots appear on the leaves and begin to discolor and drop off. The leaves flutter easily in the slightest of breezes and form a rounded canopy. A sterile variety or non fruiting tree would be a better idea in that case.
Some trees are much worse than others at seeking out water wherever it is including your underground water and sewer lines. The tree has roots with water seeking tendencies that threaten water mains or septic tanks. The name tupelo comes from the native american muscogee language meaning swamp tree. Pyramidal when young black gum develops an irregular rounded or flat topped form with age.
You will need to watch the tree over time to see how extensive the damage becomes. The seeds and fruit from this tree are one and the same commonly known as gum balls and not the nice kind. Rarely reaches 100 feet in the wild. Fungi invade and over time cause the wood to rot and decay.
The small blue berries can be a nuisance as they attract birds. This slow growing tree attains a height of 30 to 50 feet and a width of 20 to 30 feet. Nyssa sylvatica black tupelo leaves and unripe fruits photo by. Black gum or sour gum tree facts can be rather fascinating for arborists who study this hardy towering native species.
Black gum is susceptible to leaf spots caused by a fungus. The fruit of the black gum tree is used to make pies jams and drinks. The fruit is a black blue ovoid stone fruit about 10 mm long with a thin oily bitter to sour tasting flesh and very popular with small bird species. Black gum tree has strikingly brilliant red to deep purple foliage in the fall.
There are 2 other species in the genus native to south eastern us they are the ogeechee lime nyssa ogeche and water tupelo nyssa aquatica this article primarily. These spiky balls are one reason you might not want to plant sweet gums too close to the house. Flowers are small and insignificant. If you have one of the non sterile varieties it will shed not only its leaves but also thousands of gum balls.
Wildfire produces some fruit but not a lot and not enough that i d consider it to be messy.