--Photo Courtesy of North Carolina State University
--edit--This is NOT a Sweet Gum, one of the common names is even Sour Gum. This WILL NOT produce the spiky gumballs. The fruit is a berry about the size of a blueberry.
Continuing our series on trees best suited to dealing with Oklahoma's ...interesting... climate, I bring you the Black Gum. Those of you familiar with Van Morrison will know Tupelo Honey, not only one of the greatest albums of all time but a honey made from bees that pollinate trees in the Nyssa genus. A couple problems with this tree keep it from being widely planted, which is a real shame because it has one of the best fall displays anyone could want. First of all, they don't really like heavy soil. While that is not an insurmountable problem, they really need extensive site amending; which I will cover in the final post in this series. Second, when young, they need fairly regular water, more so than some of the more common trees(Chinese Pistache, Shumard Oak, etc...). They do however develop a impressive tap root, so older, well established trees will need less water. And finally it is that tap root that presents the worst problem, transplanting. When shopping around for these trees one may notice that large specimens are hard to come by; this is because their tap root makes older, larger specimens very permanent. So young, small, trees are all that are available in nurseries and patience is needed to acquire a large specimen. Again, site planning is needed, if you decided to cut the tree down, the tap root will produce suckers that even stump grinding will not eliminate. Now, with these issues, and my propensity to recommend “easy” trees, why am I talking about this tree in a Recommended for Oklahoma series? Well, those problems can be solved with some good, pre-purchase planning and this is a gorgeous tree. Moderate growth to 50' tall and 30' wide with a wide-ish rounded shape. Heavy horizontal branching resits wind, snow and ice damage. In the fall, the Black Gum will be one of the first trees to start showing color with yellows, oranges, and reds. Warmer Falls may slow the process, but usually it will turn quickly. During all seasons the bark is quite showy, rough and almost black will contrast with leaves during the growing season and the sky and snow in winter. In Fall, the female trees can produce a black berry that birds love; so keep that in mind when selecting a specific tree and location. Other varieties are hard to come by, a weeping(Autumn Cascade) and a smaller conical(Forum). Also a cousin, N. ogeche, produces Ogeechee Limes. --Photo Courtesy of North Carolina State University This is a tree that, while a lot of preparatory work is involved, is very worth while. An outstanding large tree with four season interest that is not planted on every corner.
--edit--This is NOT a Sweet Gum, one of the common names is even Sour Gum. This WILL NOT produce the spiky gumballs. The fruit is a berry about the size of a blueberry.
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