Nyssa aquatica

Water tupelo is in the Nyssaceae family (although it is still placed in the dogwood or Cornaceae family in some databases) and is native to swamps and floodplains in the southeastern United States (Florida to Texas, north to Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Virginia).

• Leaves are alternate, simple, pinnately veined, oblong, dark green and up to 20 cm long and 10 cm across. Leaves turn yellow in the fall.
• Trees are dioecious. Flowers are tiny, greenish-white, produced in the leaf axils of young branches during mid-spring, males in clusters, females solitary. They are followed in late summer by clusters of 2 or 3 dark purple oblong fruits.
• Tree trunks have a swollen base that tapers to a long, clear bole, and the tree’s roots are periodically under water.