Tupelo Gum
 

Do any of ya'll know how to positively ID a Tupelo Gum or swamp tupelo tree? Any tips tricks or pictures would be greatly appreciated. Most interested in IDing tupelos that are 18-24" around.

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Bark looks pretty close to a cypress tree. The leaves are the easiest way to identify, but can be had at this time of year when the trees have lost them.

Buttressed base is a key. The bark is more fissured than a cypress, which has somewhat of a reddish appearance and peels. In areas that stay almost permanently flooded, the stand will be almost purely tupelo. Cypress is slightly less tolerant of flooding than tupelo.

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Go to Miller's Lake, full of them.

Look up Nyssa aquatica. That is the scientific name for water tupelo, or tupelo-gum as it is often called here. That will give you a pretty good idea of what you are looking for.

I hunt sloughs here in SELA that are almost entirely tupelo-gum where the slough never dries out. Nothing else can survive those areas. Chances are, if you find deep water with trees growing, that is a tupelo. It will co-exist with bald cypress at shallower water depths, but if the area dries out periodically, cypress will dominate with almost no tupelo present. That's where you start getting more red maple, hackberry, and oaks.

Most any swamp in Southwest La. has to types of trees. If it is not a cypress, it will be a tupelo gum. Calcasieu River swamp has a bunch.

Thanks for the all the replies. Seems like the tupelo will be flared out or swollen at the base like a cypress, but without the flutes

What you looking for tupelo for?

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I want a few carving blocks. I heard Tupelo is very good for that. I got the land access covered, but I just wanted to make sure I was on the right tree