Nyssa aquatica (water tupelo), Nyssa biflora (swamp tupelo), Nyssa ogeche (sour tupelo), and Nyssa sylvatica (black tupelo aka black gum), all of the family Cornaceae, the dogwood family
Tupelo is sometimes called "gum" and there is considerable discussion of that common name and its various uses on the gum page on this site. Also, there are half a dozen Nyssa that use the common name gum (with various adjectives such as water gum, etc) and I don't know that the wood of those can be distinguished from the tupelo Nyssas.
Nyssa synvatica at least, and possibly other Nyssa species as well, has interlocked grain. I am unable to detect it on any of my formal samples because I don't have a quartersawn piece, but at the bottom of the section showing my own samples, there is a raw split piece that REALLY shows it clearly.
This is a hard wood, but reportedly liked by carvers although the different species vary considerably in hardness with water tupelo being noticeably softer than black tupelo which is sometimes used for beams and where strength counts. The favorite of carvers, really, is the lower regions of the water tupelo which are reportedly softer than the upper bole and softer still than black tupelo.
This is a medium grade wood at best and is mostly used for hidden furniture parts and veneer core.
my samples: NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K) colors will vary under other lighting conditions
sample plank and end grain sold to me as black tupelo / gum / Nyssa sylvatica --- the end grain pic has too much green in it
end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- this pic is also a bit too green
END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above --- color is very accurate but even though the pic seems to be well focused, the fine grain detail does not show up well. See the sample below for a MUCH better end grain closeup
both sides of a sample plank of black tupelo / Nyssa sylvatica --- HUGE enlargements are present
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of black tupelo / Nyssa sylvatica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of swamp tupelo / Nyssa sylvatica var biflora --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of swamp tupelo / Nyssa sylvatica var biflora --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of swamp tupelo / Nyssa sylvatica var biflora --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of black tupelo / Nyssa sylvatica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of water tupelo / Nyssa aquatica
both sides of a sample plank of water tupelo / Nyssa aquatica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of water tupelo / Nyssa aquatica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of water tupelo / Nyssa aquatica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of Ogeechee tupelo / Nyssa ogeche --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
first face and the end grain of a sample of tupelo / Nyssa spp. --- This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION G
the second face, before and after sanding it down a bit, showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.
end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above
a split piece of black gum / Nyssa sylvatica loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This piece is amazingly interlocked and Mark tells me the owner found it almost impossible to split the piece. The channels are caused by the way the interlocked wood splits (if and when it ever DOES split --- I can attest from personal experience that heavily interlocked grain like this can make it damned near impossible to split such a piece with anything less than a hydraulic ram).
These two pieces from the same tree were sent to me for ID. The owner thought they were American gum and with nothing but a 10X loupe to look at the end grain, I agreed. Later I used a 300X microscope to examine one of the end grain closeups further and I discovered that it is NOT American gum but actually tupelo
here is an area of a piece of American gum on the left and on the right, the same sized area from the first piece above, both shown here at about 200X. The piece on the right is an exact match for tupelo. As you can see, the tupelo has larger pores and more dense background tissue (the smaller "dots" behind the pores, which are the larger dots). Also, the pores in tupelo are noticeably less dense than in the gum
both sides of a sample plank, cut from the first piece above, of tupelo / Nyssa spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica, also listed as black gum, yellow gum, pepperidge, and sour gum) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are present for all 3 views
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
sour tupelo (Nyssa ogeche, also listed as ogeechee lime and gopher plum) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are present for all 3 views
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
large tupelo (Nyssa aquatica aka tupelo gum and cotton gum) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are present for all 3 views. Why the Wood Book does not list this as water tupelo, I do not know.
web pics:
planks listed as tupelo / black gum
two views of some turning stock
planks listed as just "tupelo"
both sides of a slab just listed as "tupelo"
water tupelo
water tupelo scales with natural color (not bark inclusions). I have never otherwise seen tupelo with such a white color, so I'm suspicious that it may have been bleached to enhance the contrast.
all of these pics are of the same burly tupelo log, submitted by David Ing, whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. David provided such well-focused and high resolution pics that I have provided extreme enlargement for all of these. David refers to this as black gum, which is probably the most common alternate name for tupelo. The top two pics of the log are of it on the mill and the others are various slabs taken from the log.
bowl --- orange color seems unlikely; possibly due to the finish
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