The black gum is a true old soul that can span centuries. The oldest known black gum, tucked away in southeastern New Hampshire, is  believed to be about 700 years old.  

This is a tree that provides in all stages of its life. In the spring, the black gum’s inconspicuous green-white flowers attract huge numbers of  native pollinators, and its leaves support a number of important caterpillars, including the luna moth larvae. In the fall, female black gum drop  a wealth of blue-black fruits that feed local and migrating songbirds, woodpeckers, ducks, turkeys, opossums, foxes, and even black bears if  they’re around. Then, after a black gum begins to die, its strong wood keeps the tree standing for many years while it develops cavities and  hollows that become home to all kinds of wildlife. The black gums’ brilliant red fall color is unmatched.  

Under normal nursery protection methods, tupelo can be hard to get establish (something we are planning to change), but once there do get  going, their strong root and tolerance for low soil oxygen allows the black gum thrive anywhere from a flooded bog to a patch of poor,  compacted urban soil.  

Scientific Name: Nyssa sylvatica (black gum, black tupelo, sour gum). 

Hardiness Zone: Approximately 4–9. 

Sun Exposure needs: Full sun to partial shade. 

Soil Type preference: Moist, well‑drained soils; tolerates a wide range (including seasonally wet) but prefers acidic conditions. Growth Rate: Slow to medium. 

Height and Width at maturity: About 30–50 ft tall in landscapes (up to ~70 ft in the wild) and roughly 20–30 ft wide. 

Flower Type: Small, greenish, mostly inconspicuous flowers in late spring; usually on separate male and female trees  (dioecious). 

Fall Color: Outstanding scarlet to orange‑red, often one of the earliest and best native fall‑color trees.