''Nyssa ogeche'', commonly referred to as Ogeechee tupelo, white tupelo, river lime, ogeechee lime tree, sour gum or wild lime is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree. Growing to 15 m (~50 ft), it is in flower from March to May, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are pollinated by bees. It is noted for attracting wildlife. Ogeechee

tupelo Tupelo , genus ''Nyssa'' , is a small genus of deciduous trees with alternate, simple leaves. It is sometimes included in the subfamily Nyssoideae of the dogwood family, Cornaceae, but is placed by other authorities in the family Nyssaceae. In ...

requires a very moist site and is distributed along the borders of rivers, swamps, and ponds that are frequently inundated. Tupelo prefers slow flowing, low water to standing water. It grows naturally from the borders of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

near the coast through the Ogeechee Valley in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

to Clay County in northern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and Washington County in western Florida. It is found in abundance along the Ogeechee, Altamaha, and

Suwannee River The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset hig ...

s, and in certain wet flatwood regions between the Choctawhatchee and

Wakulla River The Wakulla River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 18, 2011 river in Wakulla County, Florida. It carries the outflow from Wakulla Springs, site of the Edward ...

s of Florida. The wood is light (specific gravity of 0.46), soft, tough but not strong. It is coarse grained, difficult to split and of little value. The tree is too rare and small for the wood to be economically important.

The mature fruit, known as Ogeechee lime, has a subacid flavor. It is made into preserves and can also be used as a substitute for lime juice. The fruit is produced in small clusters of 2–3, is up to 4 centimeters long, and has a thick, juicy, very acidic flesh containing a single seed. Thousands of

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s of Ogeechee tupelo have been planted in bee farms along the lower

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...

and around swamps where it grows naturally. The honey made from the nectar is known as "tupelo honey."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1252686 ogeche Trees of the United States Trees of the Southeastern United States