This Water Tupelo is, of course, similar to the more widespread Black Tupelo (N. sylvatica), but its leaves are larger of 5 to 7 inches long by 2 to 4 inches wide, and with the margins often with some slight, dull teeth. Furthermore, the blue-black drupe fruit is larger of about 1 inch long versus the about 1/2 inch of the Black species. Water Tupelo trunks flare or buttress at the base, but taper upwards to a long, clear trunk and a crown relatively narrow and open. It grows in wet places of swamps, flood plains, and along lakes or watercourses. It often grows in places where the tree is standing in water several feet deep during wet seasons. It is native along the coastal region from southern Virginia to northern Florida to east Texas and up the Mississippi River Valley into southern Illinois.

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