''Nyssa aquatica'', commonly called the water tupelo,
cottongum,
wild olive,
[ large tupelo,][ tupelo-gum,][ or water-gum,][ is a large, long-lived tree in the tupelo genus ''(Nyssa)'' that grows in ]swamp
A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
s and floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
s in the Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...
.
''Nyssa aquatica'' trunks have a swollen base that tapers up to a long, clear bole, and its root system is periodically under water. Water tupelo trees often occurs in pure stands.
Names
''Nyssa aquaticas genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
name ''(Nyssa)'' refers to a Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
water nymph
In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water.
They are distinct from river gods, who ...
; the species epithet
An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
''aquatica'', meaning ‘aquatic’, refers to its swamp and wetland habitat.
One of the species' common names, tupelo, is of Native American origin, coming from the Creek words ''ito'' ‘tree’ and ''opilwa'' ‘swamp’; it was in use by the mid-18th century
Uses
A large mature tree can produce commercial timber used for furniture and crates. The swollen base of the ''Nyssa aquatica'' is the source of a favored wood of wood carver
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...
s.
Many kinds of wildlife eat the fruit, and it is a favored honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
tree.
Gallery
File:American bee journal (1918) (17493630783).jpg, Branch with inflorescences
File:Nyssa aquatica seeds, by Omar Hoftun.jpg, Seeds
References
External links
Louisiana State University: page on ''Nyssa aquatica'' in America
*bioimages.vanderbilt.edu - ''Nyssa aquatica'' images
woodworkingnetwork.com: "All About Tupelo Wood"
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7071273
aquatica
Freshwater plants
Trees of the Southeastern United States
Trees of mild maritime climate
Trees of the United States
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus