tupelo

[Rob in NC]

what kind of tree is tupelo? ive been told black gum and ive also been told its short for tulip poplar (but i dont know if i believe that)

[Woodpecker52]

Around here it grows in the swamp, tupelo gum,  has a swelled butt like cypress and was used for furniture legs and makes a good duck decoy wood.  I have seen it cut in short blocks and they used a buzz saw type mill to saw blanks for turning.  I am sure those guys have gone the way of short wood pulpwood  cutters, extinct. Black gum is a different tree it grows on dryer sites and is similar to sweet gum as to wood qualities was always a minor component of tree species around here. Yellow Poplar is a whole different animal,  Nice straight single trunk, fast growing whitish wood with sometimes green heart, ones on my place are to massive to cut now but were once  a pleasure to mill and to use for building, siding, beams, furniture etc. My favorite woods to cut are cypress#1 and yellow poplar#2 followed by  red cedar, sweetgum, yellow pine, then white oak, red oak and last hickory. One tree I will not mill is a blackjack oak, nasty is all I can say,  I left them for the 02 and acorns for deer and squirrels.  I have a few grape vines about 8inch in dia. I have thought about milling :D

[WV Sawmiller]

   It makes one of the preferred types of honey. I think all I ever saw was at least partially growing in the water. 

[Ianab]

You might find 2 common species of Tupelo depending on where you are. 

Nyssa sylvatica, Black Tupelo or "Black gum".
or
Nyssa aquatica, Water Tupelo or "water-gum"

Neither have any relationship to gum, or sweet gum, or pretty much anything else. Those are just the common names they have picked up. 

The Water Tupelo is more likely to be found in swamps as it can handle "wet feet" better than most trees. 

[Wudman]

Ianab nailed it.  There in Eastern North Carolina, tupelo is Nyssa aquatica.  You will find it in those blackwater swamps.  It will have a major butt swell and lives it life in water.  If you've ever watched Bobby Goodson on TV, a large part of his swamp logging was in stands of tupelo.  I got my start in forestry down in that part of the world.  Glad to have my feet dry now.

Wudman

[trapper]

from what i have heard tueplo honey never cristilizes 

[WDH]

There is blackgum
There is swmap blackgum.
There is water tupelo
There is ogeechee gum, very similar to water tupelo.

All closely related.  Leaves and fruit all similar.  Genus Nyssa.

[Hoopty5.0]

I live in SE TX and have what I think is black gum in my yard. The wood is very soft and yellowish in color. Warps pretty bad if not strapped tightly while drying.

[Don P]

Yup, it has heavily interlocked grain. In one of my old forestry texts they explained that interlocked grain is usually formed by the tree growing with a right spiral for a few tears, then switching to a left, switching back and forth as the tree grows. It is very difficult to split, I've used it for hidden splines in construction, my shop bench top is gum as well.

[K-Guy]

I got this from the USDA Forestry site

Tupelo contains about 5 species native to the United States [3] and eastern Asia [2].
Nyssa aquatica-Bay-poplar, Bastard Cottonwood, Big Tupelo, Bowl Gum, Chickasawatchie Whitewood, Cotton-gum, Gray Gum, Gum Cottonwood, Hickory Poplar, Ladle Gum, Large Tupelo, Olivetree, Pawpaw Gum, Rootwood Tupelo, Sap Gum, Sour Gum, Swamp Gum, Swamp Poplar, Swamp Tupelo, Trade Tupelo, Tupelo Gum, Water Gum, Water Tupelo, White Gum, Wild Olivetree, Yellow?Gum
Nyssa ogeche-Gopher Plum, Limetree, Ogeechee Lime, Lone Tupelo, Ogeechee?Plum, Ogeechee Tupelo, Sour Tupelo, Sour Tupelo Gum, White Tupelo, Wild Limetree
Nyssa sylvatica-Blackgum, Black Tupelo, Bowl Gum, Gum, Pepperidge, Plain Black Gum, Quartered Black Gum, Sour Gum, Stinkwood, Swamp Blackgum, Swamp Tupelo, Tupelo Gum, Yellow Gum, Yellow Gumtree, Wild Pear-tree
Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora-Blackgum, Swamp Blackgum, Bouw Gum, Lowland Black Gum, Lowland Gum, Sour Gum, Southern Gum, Swamp Black Gum, Swamp Tupelo, Tupelo Gum, Water Gum,

The sapwood of Tupelo is a light gray brown, while the heartwood is darker. It has interlocked grain, with a natural tendency to warp when dries, especially when flat sawn. It shows a characteristic figure when quartersawn. It has no characteristic odor or taste. It is moderately strong, but difficult to glue.

Working Properties: It is moderately strong, but difficult to glue.
Durability: It lacks any natural durability.
Preservation: It is easily penetrated with preservatives.
Uses: Furniture, shipping containers, millwork, veneer, plywood, cross ties, bridge ties and crossing planks.
Toxicity: No information available at this time.

For kiln drying, dry as you would poplar

[Woodpecker52]

All this talk of gum got me thinking when the heck can I see a dentist to get my teeth cleaned, they have postponed it twice, emergency only.  Think I will only have gums left at this rate :D  and will have to whittle me a pair of chompers from a gum tree, dad gum it, wonder if bubble gum will stick to um? 

[farmfromkansas]

A cabinet mfg co. close by used to buy Tupelo gum and make trim and jambs for houses, was beautiful trim, but the base wanted to kink a bit. They got too many complaints and went to poplar, then decided it was taking too much of their time and quit the trim and door business.

[Rob in NC]

gotcha - all good info thanks

i was curious from the standpoint of cutting some decoy carving blocks out of some off the farm.. if i can find any around here.