Tupelo

Tupelo
Black tupelo foliage and immature fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Asterids Order: Cornales Family: Cornaceae (Nyssaceae) Genus: Nyssa L.
Species
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 (sg. pronounced /ˈtuːpɨloʊ/), or pepperidge trees, genus Nyssa (pronounced /ˈnɪsə/),^[1] 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 the southeastern United States, particularly in the Gulf Coast region, 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."
• Singer Dusty Springfield covered the song on her 1973 album Cameo
• Buddaheads also perform a revamped version of "Tupelo Honey."
• In the first live album Live Seeds (1993) of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds there is a song named Tupelo. However this doesn't refer to the plant.
• 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".
• SikTh, a British Mathcore/Progressive Metal band, recorded a song entitled "Tupelo" on their album "Trees Are Dead and Dried Out, Wait for Something Wild."

See also

• Tupelo, Mississippi

References

References

• Nyssa in the Flora of China
• Page on Nyssa aquatica in America, including many photos, from Louisiana State University
• Nyssa aquatica images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
• All About Tupelo Wood
• Varietals of Honey