Black tupelo is a tree, 20-27m tall, that is easily recognizable due to its combination of deeply furrowed bark and simple, glossy leaves that turn brilliant red and orange in the fall. It has unisexual flowers that are small, greenish-white, and borne 1-3 (female) or in clusters (male) and appear with the leaves. Its fruits are blue-black, ovoid to globular drupes, 0.8-1.7cm long, its stones have ~10 shallow grooves separated by low, rounded ridges. Its leaves are alternate, simple, leathery, usually abruptly short pointed, densely clustered at the branchlets, deciduous, and turn scarlet in the fall. Its bark is reddish-brown and broken into deep irregular ridges and diamond-shaped plates.
This is the only Nyssa species found in Wisconsin. Its combination of deeply furrowed bark and simple, glossy leaves, which turn brilliant red and orange in the fall make it easily recognizable.
