# identity plant and tree ,help!



## bradley39482 (May 26, 2010)

can ya'll help with this plant i.d., it grows all over my place, wonder if its a good bee source.


















i believe this is a tupelo gumtree but not for sure.






















thanks


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## NGAnderson (Jun 14, 2011)

The first one is american pokeweed, not sure about the second one without seeing flowers or fruit.


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## ChickenChaser (Jun 6, 2009)

Like NG said, can't be sure. Black gum/tupelo gum can vary in characteristics like leaf size, shape, sheen (gloss) and that has left me scratching my head more than once. 

One good ID clue - the branches. Are they somewhat arranged in rings or layers around the trunk - rather than scattered randomly? Do the branches come off the trunk at or near a right angle - rather than angling upwards? 

CC


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## bradley39482 (May 26, 2010)

thanks anderson,
is it a good plant for bee's? if not i'm pulling the weed up.
chicken chaser, i will check on the branches and get back to you, i looked up tupelo, black gum water tupelo, it seems to be a gum of some sort, i have other tupelo's that i know of on a another piece of land that has a creek running through it. they are very waxy green leaves, but this one looks like a white tupelo, i will get back with you!


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## lavert5 (Mar 6, 2011)

Yes the first is pokeberry, poke weed, poke salad if your southern. The other looks like black tupelo from your pics. A pic of the whole tree would help. The limbs will be almost straight out from the trunk. They grow perpindicular not to much arch to them. The leaves in your pics look right for tupelo.


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## bradley39482 (May 26, 2010)

here are some more picks, i think it is a tupelo, lavert, i hope so but i haven't seen it bloom since katrina came, i hope it does good next spring. and the other is poke salad? i would have never guessed it, the bee's work it? 



















seems the limbs are at 90 degrees,


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## ChickenChaser (Jun 6, 2009)

Bradley, I do believe it to be a tupelo. 

Are you saying you saw it bloom _before Katrina_? You may already know - the blooms are very tiny - as in you gotta be up close and personal with the tree. 

If the tree is female and mature, you can find the green fruit (about the size of a small bean) usually in clusters of 2-4.

Regardless, they are beautiful trees. I wish I had a couple in my yard.

CC


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## bradley39482 (May 26, 2010)

ChickenChaser said:


> Bradley, I do believe it to be a tupelo.
> 
> Are you saying you saw it bloom _before Katrina_? You may already know - the blooms are very tiny - as in you gotta be up close and personal with the tree.
> 
> ...


hey chaser
yea i think it is male, i remember before katrina it bloomed, but then it was much smaller and thicker, since then i haven't seen it bloom, but i work overseas and it could have bloomed before i got home, i have read they bloom from may to june, i have another on the other side of my house that is probably 4o ft tall. i have seen it bloom, and believe it is female, i also have swamp tupelo at another hive location, a lot of them, as well as a good many sour woods. which have just stopped their blooms. does the tupelo honey look amber in color or is it whiter? we have a good many gallberry bushes around as well, they did poorly this spring, only got 30lbs of pure white honey from them this year! how did ya'll do over in bama this year?


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## ChickenChaser (Jun 6, 2009)

Not sure but I think the tupelo honey is amber.

I haven't talked to any local beeks this year. I'm in the rebuilding process - or my bees are. I lost both my hives in 2009/10 and never broke down/stored the hives. Had a swarm take up residence in each one this spring. One is building slow and really needs relocating. Second one is strong enough that I supered and last check, I was mildly surprised to find a couple frames heavy with honey and nectar. 

CC


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## bradley39482 (May 26, 2010)

if u want some of those tupelo seeds let me know? or i could get you some saplings in the fall, there are plenty of them. do the bee's work the poke salad? also can get you some sour wood seeds, i don't know about the saplings, they look just like cherry saplings when there young.


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## ChickenChaser (Jun 6, 2009)

Thanks, bradley. I've been collecting tupelo seeds for a few years now...just haven't planted any! LOL

Saplings, according to what I read, don't transplant well because of the long tap root. First year sprouts might do good, though. 

I have my eye on some sourwood bushes I hope to take up this fall.
They are in a cut over thicket. I hope they are true seedlings and not shoots off the old stumps. 

Poke blooms don't attract honey bees - to my knowlege - which seems to be very limited.

Thanks again...

CC


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## Walliebee (Nov 17, 2006)

The tree pictured is Nyssa sylvatica, commonly known as black tupelo or black gum.

These are all the Tupelo's native to the US:

Nyssa aquatica – Water Tupelo
Nyssa biflora– Swamp Tupelo
Nyssa ogeche – Ogeechee Tupelo
Nyssa sylvatica – Black Tupelo


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## bradley39482 (May 26, 2010)

thanks walliebee
i have two of them, one is 30-40ft tall and the one in the picture which hasn't to my knowlegde bloomed sine katrina came through, seems to be getting better, is tupelo honey, or black gum honey amber or light in color? do you have any pictures of the tree's you mentioned besides the tree i have? thanks


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## Walliebee (Nov 17, 2006)

Here's some pictures:

Nyssa aquatica – Water Tupelo
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/nyaq.html

Nyssa biflora– Swamp Tupelo
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/nybi.html


Nyssa ogeche – Ogeechee Tupelo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/claytonsnatives/1388343310
http://www.flickr.com/photos/claytonsnatives/1388343424

Ogeechee is very light honey, while the others are a amber color.


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