Wildfire Black Gum Tree Fruit
Expect brilliant colors in the fall too.
Wildfire black gum tree fruit. These nativars are hardy easy to care for maintain a consistent shape and provide stunning multi season fire red foliage. Sometimes however the tree can grow perfect flowers making this ultimately a polygamodioecious species. The wildfire black gum or tupelo tree is a personal favorite shade tree. A single specimen in your yard will glow like a bonfire and a row of trees lining your driveway or property line will become a breathtaking firestorm of red.
Black gum leaf on any variety of the tree is an elongated oval that flutters in the slightest of breezes from the slender branches. That s why i have one shading the southwest side of my home from the sun. The fruit is a black blue ovoid stone fruit about 10 mm long with a thin oily bitter to sour tasting flesh and very popular with small bird species. There are from one to three fruits together on a long slender stalk.
Nyssa sylvatica wildfire wildfire black gum the black gums are great native trees that have a beautiful pyramidal shaped crown when they are younger and as they mature their form rounds out. But really what s not to love. In their native habit they are found in more moist acidic soils but can adapt well to other conditions and are very drought tolerant. Black gum trees generally are deciduous so you would need both a male and a female for fruit production.
At the dawn of spring when the world lights up in green the wildfire black gum stands out with deep ruby red leaves. In the spring the first leaves of this tree emerge a brilliant fire wagon red which are beautiful on their own but can providing a stunning backdrop for other specimen trees like dogwoods or. Once the flowers are pollinated they form into black stone fruits drupes that mature in early fall. Wildfire black gum pushes out fiery red leaves in spring which turn a cool green in the summer months only to become ablaze again in fall.
For landscape design it is a fantastic fall choice. Expect brilliant colors in the fall too. There are 2 other species in the genus native to south eastern us they are the ogeechee lime nyssa ogeche and water tupelo nyssa aquatica this article primarily focuses on nyssa silvatica but many points could apply to either of the other species. Birds and squirrels favor the fruit produced by black gum which can be beneficial for a community if objectives are to increase wildlife activity.
The mesmerizing variety of colors can appear on one single tree so this black gum will always surprise you with an assortment of the familiar nostalgic colors of autumn. However one minor issue reported by pedestrians and municipal employees is the fruit litter and animal droppings produced underneath the tree. At the dawn of spring when the world lights up in green the wildfire black gum stands out with deep ruby red leaves. They are a valuable energy food for birds especially the american robin.
You might be used to the fiery autumnal colors that black gums are famous for but the wildfire black gum tree doesn t just bring those colors to the fall. You ll get crimson orange and even purple leaves growing on this tree. Birds will eat the fruits but they are not desirable for human consumption.