Nyssa aquatica
species of plant
Nyssa aquatica, commonly called the water tupelo, cottongum, wild olive, large tupelo, tupelo-gum, or water-gum, is a large, long-lived tree in the tupelo family, Nyssaceae, that grows in swamps and floodplains in the Southeastern United States.
Nyssa aquatica trunks have a swollen base that tapers up to a long, clear bole, and its root system is periodically underwater. Water tupelo trees often occur in pure stands.
Names
Nyssa aquatica's genus name (Nyssa) refers to a Greek water nymph; the species epithet aquatica, meaning 'aquatic', refers to its swamp and wetland habitat.
One of the species' common names, tupelo, is of Native American origin, coming from the Creek words ito 'tree' and opilwa 'swamp'; it was in use by the mid-18th century
Description
Male flowers are borne in clustered inflorescences, while female flowers and bisexual flowers arise individually or as pairs. It is distinguished in part from Nyssa ogeche by typically having longer leaf petioles. It has 1-inch-long (2.5 cm) fruits, longer than those of Nyssa sylvatica, that are borne on 1.2-inch (3 cm) extended peduncles.
Uses
A large mature tree can produce commercial timber used for furniture and crates. The swollen base of the Nyssa aquatica is the source of a favored wood of wood carvers.
Many kinds of wildlife eat the fruit, and it is a favored honey tree.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Nyssa aquatica” as species of plant. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of plant. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7071273. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Nyssa aquatica” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.