Black Gum Tree Fruit
Autumn cascades is a weeping variety with especially good fall coloring.
Black gum tree fruit. Varieties zydeco twist is a variety of black gum that offers branches that twist somewhat and stand out during the winter. Pyramidal when young black gum develops an irregular rounded or flat topped form with age. Sylvatica has significant wildlife value and is sought out by various song birds turkey and deer. The fruits berries are enjoyed by thrushes and other songbirds wild turkeys black bear foxes raccoons and opossums.
The bitter inch blue black drupes are favored by wildlife but are not particularly ornamental. In fall the black gum often holds out a little later for its show but when transitions you can t mistake it. There are from one to three fruits together on a long slender stalk. The dark blue fruit of n.
Rarely reaches 100 feet in the wild. This slow growing tree attains a height of 30 to 50 feet and a width of 20 to 30 feet. Wildfire will produce red leaves throughout the growing season. The yellowish white seeds are football shaped and have grooves running their entire length.
Leaves change from green orange quickly to red with mottled darker red splotches that make it deeper in color but simultaneously more brilliant than many of the maple cultivars. Black gum can be used as a street tree in median plantings but it tends not to do well in areas with high pollution. 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 focuses on nyssa silvatica but many points could apply to either of the other species. 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.
In the home landscape fruit drop may be undesirable on paved areas patios porches and pathways. The natural hollows that form in the tree are a refuge for reptiles tree frogs bats and other wildlife. Flowers are small and insignificant. Its young sprouts are eaten by white tailed deer.
Black tupelo nyssa sylvatica also called black gum tree is a north eastern american native tree producing edible fruit in the fall.