Nyssa aquatica L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Nyssaceae

• Scientific Name

  Nyssa aquatica L.

• Description

  Species Description - Tree to 30 m; lvs ovate to elliptic or rarely obovate, 10–15 cm, half as wide, conspicuously acuminate, mucronate at the tip, entire or more often with several large, salient teeth, broadly cuneate to cordate at base, distinctly glaucous-green beneath; staminate fls several, crowded and sessile on a peduncle 1–2 cm; pistillate fl solitary on a peduncle 2–3 cm, its cal obsolete; fr purple, ellipsoid or ovoid, 2–3 cm, constricted to the apical disk; stone with 8–10 sharp, narrow wings. Deep fresh-water swamps on the coastal plain, often with Taxodium; Va. to Fla. and e. Tex., n. in the Mississippi embayment to s. Mo. and s. Ill. May. (N. uniflora)

• Common Names

  cotton-gum, water tupelo