ILLINOIS PLANT INFORMATION NETWORK ILPIN INFORMATION ON Nyssa sylvatica CLASS: DICOTYLEDENAE ORDER: CORNALES FAMILY: NYSSACEAE SCIENTIFIC NAME: Nyssa sylvatica AUTHORITY: Marsh. COMMON NAMES: BLACK GUM BLACK TUPELO SOUR GUM PEPPERIDGE SYNONOMY: None PLANTS CODE: NYSY NATURAL COMMUNITIES: FOREST UPLAND FOREST DRY DRY-MESIC MESIC FLOODPLAIN FOREST MESIC FLATWOODS SAND LISTED DOMINANT WETLAND SWAMP TYPICAL SWAMP BOG FORESTED SEEP & SPRING ACID GRAVEL SEEP CULTURAL RESTORATION FOREST SAF FOREST COVER TYPE: CENTRAL Upland oak listed Chestnut oak White/Black/Northern Red- Oak White Oak Northern Red Oak Other Central Types listed Yellow Poplar Pin Oak - Sweetgum NORTHERN Other Northern types listed Black Ash - American Elm - Red Maple SOUTHERN Oak-Pine listed Shortleaf Pine-oak Bottomland listed Swamp Chestnut Oak - Cherrybark Oak Sugarberry - American Elm - Green Ash Other Southern types listed Sweetgum - Yellow poplar NATURAL DIVISION: Coastal Plain Cretaceous Hills COUNTIES: ALEXANDER CLARK COLES COOK CRAWFORD EDGAR EDWARDS FRANKLIN GALLATIN HAMILTON HARDIN IROQUOIS JACKSON JOHNSON KANKAKEE LAWRENCE MARION MASSAC MONROE PERRY POPE PULASKI RANDOLPH RICHLAND ST. CLAIR SALINE UNION VERMILION WABASH WAYNE WHITE WILL WILLIAMSON GROWTH FORM: Dicot-woody TAXONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS: ROOTS: Primary LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate LEAF TYPE: Simple LEAF MARGIN: Entire LEAF VENATION: Pinnate LEAF SHAPE: Obovate INFLORESCENCE: Solitary- few FLOWER MEROUS: 5 FLOWER STRUCTURE: Complete Incomplete Regular FLOWER COLOR: Green White FLOWER PLACEMENT: Epigynous FRUIT: DRUPE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC COMMENTS: Leaves abruptly short-pointed at the tip, shiny; twigs have a continuous pith marked by distinct partitions; staminate flowers in spherical clusters, pistillate, 2-several in leaf axils. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: ORIGIN: Native POPULATION DYNAMICS: STATE STATUS: Not listed FEDERAL STATUS: Not listed COMMONNESS: Occasional ENDEMIC: NOT-ENDEMIC BIOLOGIC: HABIT: Tree LIFE CYCLE: Perennial REPRODUCTION: Sexual FLOWERING PERIOD: MONTH BEGINNING- 4 MONTH END- 6 TROPHIC STATUS: Autotrophic C02 FIXATION: C3 SEX: Unisexual -dioecious ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS: GROWTH OF SPECIES IN VARIOUS CONDITIONS: GRAVEL No data entered SAND No data entered SANDY LOAM No data entered LOAM No data entered CLAY LOAM No data entered CLAY No data entered DENSE CLAY No data entered ORGANIC SOIL Good NEUTRAL pH No data entered ACIDIC SOIL Good EXTREMELY ACID No data entered SALINE SOIL No data entered SODIC SOIL No data entered SODIC-SALINE No data entered ROCKY OUTCROPS No data entered GENTLE SLOPES Good MODERATE SLOPE No data entered STEEP SLOPES No data entered HABITAT: Moist Dry FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS: MAJOR DISPERSAL AGENTS: BIRD MAJOR POLLINATION AGENT: INSECT HUMAN RELATIONSHIP DATA: EDIBLE: Yes SHOWY FLOWERS: NO LANDSCAPING: YES AMOUNT: High HUMAN FACTOR COMMENTS: Cultivated for its colorful autumn foliage. The pleasantly acid fruits can be used as a masticatory (Fernald et al., 1958) or can be used for making preserves (Medsger, 1939). WILDLIFE AND LIVESTOCK INFORMATION: FOOD VALUE: DEER VALUE: Yes - Leaves Stems Buds UPLAND GAME VALUE: Yes - Fruit Buds WATERFOWL VALUE: Yes - Fruit SMALL NON-GAME BIRD VALUE: Yes - Fruit SMALL MAMMAL VALUE: Unknown AQUATIC MAMMAL VALUE: Yes - Fruit Stems FISH VALUE: Unknown COVER VALUE: DEER: No data WATERFOWL: No data SMALL MAMMAL: Good FISH: No data SMALL BIRD: Good UPLAND GAME: No data AQUATIC MAMMAL: No data WILDLIFE COMMENTS: The fruit of this species is a food for terrestrial furbearers, it is consumed by waterfowl (especially wood ducks), and by small non-game birds (especially robins and pileated woodpeckers). LIVESTOCK PALATABILITY DATA: No data entered REVEGETATION PLANTINGS: ESTABLISHMENT REQUIREMENTS: Difficult SHORT-TERM REVEGETATION POTENTIAL: Poor LONG-TERM REVEGETATION POTENTIAL: Good SEED AVAILABILITY: Good PROCUREMENT COMMENTS: 2, 15, 27, 28, 29, 30. PROPAGATION COMMENTS: Form-balled and burlapped, seedlings, seeds. REFERENCES: Mohlenbrock, R. H., ed. 1975. Guide to the vascular flora of Illinois. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 494 pp. Jones, G. N. 1963. Flora of Illinois. Third ed. American Midland Naturalist Monograph 7. University of Notre Dame, Indiana. 401 pp. Steyermark, J. A. 1963. Flora of Missouri. Iowa State University Press, Ames. 1725 pp. Gleason, H. A., and A. Cronquist. 1963. Manual of vascular plants of north- eastern United States and adjacent Canada. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York. 810 pp. Fernald, M. L. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. 8th ed. American Book Co., New York. 1632 pp. Swink, F., and G. S. Wilhelm. 1979. Plants of the Chicago region. Third ed. The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois. 922 pp. Anon. 1981. Illinois plants for habitat restoration. Illinois Department of Conservation, Mining Program. Springfield, Illinois. 61 pp. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters (SAF), Washington, D.C., 148 pp. White, J., and M. H. Madany. 1978. Classification of natural communities in Illinois. Pages 309-405 in J. White, ed., Illinois natural areas inventory technical report. Vol. 1. Survey methods and results. Illinois Natural Areas Inventory, Urbana. Miller, R. B., and L. R. Tehon. 1929. The native and naturalized trees of Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 18: 1-340. Mohlenbrock, R. H. 1980. Forest trees of Illinois. Third ed. Illinois Department of Conservation, Division of Forestry, Springfield. 331 pp. Downton, W. J. S. 1975. The occurrence of C4 photosynthesis among plants. Photosynthetica 9(1): 96-105. OTHER REFERENCES: Eyde, R. H. 1963. Morphological and paleobotanical studies of the Nyssaceae, I. A survey of the modern species and their fruits. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 44: 1-59. Eyde, R. H. 1966. The Nyssaceae in the southeastern United States. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 47: 117-125. END OF DATA FOR SPECIES Nyssa sylvatica ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ILPIN was developed by Louis Iverson*, with data compiled by David Ketzner and Jeanne Karnes Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL 61820 *currently employed by USDA Forest Service, 359 Main Rd., Delaware, OH 43015