Water Tupelo
Nyssa aquatica

Family: Nyssaceae

What it is like

Bloom Color: White. Main Bloom Time: Early spring, Late spring, Mid spring. Form: Oval, Pyramidal.

Nyssa aquatica is a deciduous Tree growing to 30 m (98ft 5in) at a medium rate. It is in flower from April to May, and the seeds ripen in October. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist or wet soil and can grow in water.

Height (m): 30

Where it is found

Swamps, bottomlands, or sites periodically under water, in soils ranging from clay to rich silts.

South-eastern N. America - Virginia to Florida, west to Illinois and Texas.

Conservation Status:

Countries/locations it is found in

How it is used

Food

Rating: 2

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

Medicine

Rating: 0

Other

Rating:

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

Cork: Including any plants used as a cork substitute. Cork is used for insulation (sound or heat), fire-retardant, bottle stops etc.

Dye: Plants that provide dyes.

Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.

How it is grown

Landscape Uses:Specimen, Woodland garden. 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. 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. Plants are fast-growing in well-drained bottomlands in the wild, but slower in swampy sites. They are long-lived trees, commencing to bear seeds when about 30 years old and usually producing heavy crops each year. The seed is mainly distributed by water. Resents root disturbance. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus. Special Features: North American native, Wetlands plant, Attracts butterflies, Inconspicuous flowers or blooms.

Propagating it: The seed can be sown in late winter in a cold frame but would probably benefit from an earlier sowing if the seed can be obtained any sooner. Three months stratification at 5°c improves germination. Germination rates are variable. 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.

Best place to grow: Woodland Garden Canopy; Pond; Bog Garden;

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 6-9

Growth: Medium

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: Semi-shade, no shade

Moisture: Moist, wet, water

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

N. uniflora.