Index / Search / Nyssa sylvatica

§1 Plant

Nyssa sylvatica Marshall

vernacular blackgum — species · Cornaceae


USDA
NYSY
GBIF
5383717
Rank
species
blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica)
Platephotograph · mountainad82CC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Cornaceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus
Nyssa
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1,078 counties across 26 states/territories
Legend Native · 1078 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Low
Salinity
Medium
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
None
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-18 °F minimum
Frost-free days
140 min.
Precipitation
40–60 in/yr
pH range
4.5–6
Root depth
30 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
95 ft
Height @ 20 y
30 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Green
Fruit colour
Blue
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
3,360
Propagation
seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Fuelwood
Medium
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1,078 counties across 26 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 66 N
Arkansas view state ↗ 74 N
Delaware view state ↗ 1 N
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N
Florida view state ↗ 31 N
Georgia view state ↗ 79 N
Illinois view state ↗ 37 N
Indiana view state ↗ 69 N
Kansas view state ↗ 1 N
Kentucky view state ↗ 113 N
Louisiana view state ↗ 47 N
Maine view state ↗ 5 N
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N
Michigan view state ↗ 30 N
Mississippi view state ↗ 65 N
New Hampshire view state ↗ 9 N
New Jersey view state ↗ 20 N
New York view state ↗ 40 N
North Carolina view state ↗ 54 N
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 64 N
Rhode Island view state ↗ 5 N
South Carolina view state ↗ 27 N
Tennessee view state ↗ 73 N
Vermont view state ↗ 6 N
Virginia view state ↗ 100 N
West Virginia view state ↗ 47 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/NYSY ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5383717 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T07:25:30Z