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Black Gum |
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Black Tupelo |
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Sour Gum |
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Pepperidge |
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Beetlebung |
Plant Habit: | Tree |
Life cycle: | Perennial |
Sun Requirements: | Full Sun Full Sun to Partial Shade |
Water Preferences: | Wet Wet Mesic Mesic Dry Mesic |
Soil pH Preferences: | Moderately acid (5.6 – 6.0) Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5) |
Minimum cold hardiness: | Zone 4b -31.7 °C (-25 °F) to -28.9 °C (-20 °F) |
Maximum recommended zone: | Zone 9a |
Plant Height: | 45 to 75 feet |
Plant Spread: | 35 to 50 feet |
Leaves: | Good fall color Deciduous |
Fruit: | Showy Edible to birds |
Fruiting Time: | Late summer or early fall |
Flowers: | Inconspicuous |
Flower Color: | Green Other: Greenish-white |
Bloom Size: | Under 1" |
Flower Time: | Spring |
Underground structures: | Taproot |
Suitable Locations: | Street Tree |
Uses: | Shade Tree |
Edible Parts: | Fruit |
Wildlife Attractant: | Birds |
Resistances: | Humidity tolerant |
Pollinators: | Bees |
Containers: | Not suitable for containers |
Miscellaneous: | Dioecious |
Awards and Recognitions: | Other: 2005 Great Plant Picks Award Winner |
Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Jan 14, 2018 2:18 PM The Black Tupelo or Black Gum is a beautiful, high quality tree that grows in the wild in wet bottomlands to upland forest edges from southern Maine down to central Florida into east Texas to southern Missouri & Illinois, in all Indiana up into southern Michigan into the tip of very south Ontario. It is slow to medium in rate, growing from only 4 inches/year to about 1.25 foot/year; in nurseries and landscaping usually about 1 foot/year. It lives about 150-200 years. Its dark, shiny simple leaves are about 2 to 5 inches long and with smooth margins, and leaves turn a good to excellent autumn color from bright yellow in some shade to orange to bright red in more sun. The fruit is a fleshy bluish to purple berry in clusters of 1 to 3 on long stems, loved by birds and small mammals. It develops a taproot and is difficult to transplant, but nurseries can do it in early spring B&B or with containers. This species is sold by some large, diverse nurseries and native plant nurseries. I see it infrequently in the average yard, even in the Mid-Atlantic, unless it was there before the house was built, but I see it in various spots in the wild near the woods in Pennsylvania and Delaware, and occasionally planted at estates, parks, office parks, campuses, and in other professional landscapes. [ Reply to this comment | |
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