Tupelo

Taxobox
name = Tupelo

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image_width = 240px
image_caption = Black tupelo foliage and immature fruit
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Cornales
familia = Cornaceae (Nyssaceae)
genus = "Nyssa"
genus_authority = L.
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Nyssa aquatica" - Water Tupelo "Nyssa biflora" - Swamp Tupelo "Nyssa javanica" - Indonesian Tupelo "Nyssa leptophylla" - Hunan Tupelo "Nyssa ogeche" - Ogeechee Tupelo "Nyssa sinensis" - Chinese Tupelo "Nyssa sylvatica" - Black Tupelo "Nyssa ursina" - Bear Tupelo "Nyssa yunnanensis" - Yunnan Tupelo

The tupelos, or pepperidge tree, genus "Nyssa", are a small genus of about 9 to 11 species of trees with alternate, simple leaves. Most are highly tolerant of wet soils and flooding, some needing to grow in such environments. Five of the species are native to eastern North America from the extreme south of Canada south to eastern Mexico; the others to east and south Asia from China south to Malaysia and west to the Himalaya. A related genus, "Davidia", the Dove tree, occurs in China.

Tupelos are valued honey plants in southeastern and Gulf Coast states, producing a very light, mild-tasting honey. In northern Florida, beekeepers keep beehives along the river swamps on platforms or floats during tupelo bloom to produce certified tupelo honey, which commands a high price on the market because of its flavor; monofloral honey made from the nectar of the Ogeechee Tupelo has such a high ratio of fructose to glucose that it does not crystallize.

The Apalachicola River in the Florida Panhandle is the center for tupelo honey. The honey is produced wherever tupelo trees (three species) bloom in southeastern USA, but the purest and most expensive version (which is certified by pollen analysis) is produced in this valley. In a good harvest year, the tupelo honey crop produced by a group of specialized Florida beekeepers approaches US$1,000,000.

Tupelo wood is used extensively by artistic woodcarvers, especially for carving ducks and other wildfowl. In commerce, it is used for shipping containers and interior parts of furniture, and is used extensively in the veneer and panel industry for crossbanding, plywood cores, and backs. The wood can be readily pulped and is used for high-grade book and magazine papers. In the past, the hollow trunks were used for bee gums to hold beehives.

Tupelo trees are also popular ornamental trees for their spectacular red fall color.

Tupelos are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including "Endoclita damor".

In pop culture

*In 1971, musician and songwriter Van Morrison released an album entitled "Tupelo Honey" featuring the popular title song, "Tupelo Honey."
*In the 1997 movie, "Ulee's Gold", the title character is a beekeeper who produces tupelo honey (the "gold" being the fine-flavored, high quality honey).
*Tupelo Honey is the name of a folk rock band in the vein of Patty Griffin and the Indigo Girls.
*Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country band.
*In Kurt Vonnegut's novel Timequake, Kilgore Trout's last poem goes: "When the tupelo/ Goes poop-a-lo / I'll come back to youp-a-lo".

ee also

*Tupelo, Mississippi

References

* [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=122537 Nyssa in the Flora of China]
* [http://rnrstreamer.lsu.edu/ecosystems/webtour/species/watertupelo/watertupelo.htm Page on "Nyssa aquatica" in America] , including many photos, from Louisiana State University
* [http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/nyaq2.htm "Nyssa aquatica" images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu]
* [http://eggtooth.homestead.com/AboutTupeloWood.html All About Tupelo Wood]
* [http://www.honey.com/consumers/honeyinfo/varietals.asp Varietals of Honey]