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Nyssa aquatica

Common name:	Water Tupelo	Family:	Nyssaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	11, 82, 229
Synonyms:	Nyssa uniflora (Wangenh.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	South-eastern N. America - Virginia to Florida, west to Illinois and Texas.
Habitat:	Swamps, bottomlands, or sites periodically under water, in soils ranging from clay to rich silts[229].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Water Tupelo [P,B,DEN1],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	aquatica = in water
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Cornales. Sour Gum family

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 30m at a medium rate. . It is in flower from April to May, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist or wet soil and can grow in water.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond, Bog Garden, Woodland, Canopy.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - occasionally eaten raw but more often used in preserves[177, 183]. The fruit is up to 4cm long, it has a thick, tough skin with a thin acid flesh surrounding a large seed[82, 229].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Cork Dye Wood.

The wood of the roots is sometimes used for making floats instead of cork[82].
A red dye can be obtained from the burnt bark mixed with water and the ash of red oak (Quercus rubra)[257].
Wood - light, close-grained, soft, difficult to split[82, 229, 235]. Tough according to one report[235], weak according to another[229]. It has an intricately contorted and twisted grain[82]. It weighs 29lb per cubic foot[235], and is used for various things such as panelling, broom handles, woodenware and crates[82, 229]. It is sometimes exploited commercially[229].

Cultivation details

Although this is a plant of swamps and other wet soils in the wild, once established it can succeed in Britain when growing in an ordinary good loamy soil in sun or semi-shade[1]. This plant probably requires a very wet soil, it is very difficult to establish in Britain, though it should be hardy at least in the milder parts of the country. It prefers a neutral to alkaline soil[200].
Plants are fast-growing in well-drained bottomlands in the wild, but slower in swampy sites[229]. They are long-lived trees, commencing to bear seeds when about 30 years old and usually producing heavy crops each year[229]. The seed is mainly distributed by water[229].
Resents root disturbance[1].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].

Propagation

The seed can be sown in late winter in a cold frame[78] but would probably benefit from an earlier sowing if the seed can be obtained any sooner. Three months stratification at 5° c improves germination[200]. Germination rates are variable[78]. As soon as they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame.
Layering.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.

References for the family Nyssaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X
Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
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