Voting Booth: Botany Quiz: Which of these is characteristic of Black Gum/Nyssa sylvatica tree?, 1 by bbrookrd

bbrookrd wrote:
I went out and checked the twig breaking point on our Nyssa sylvatica. A Green twig is impossible to break with fingers, a dead one snaps off easily. I took some pictures of our stand. They have good fall color and I love the swooping branching that develops with age, but they have been very slow growing (OK for us) and are late to leaf out. They have a nice shape and a shinny leaf, but with the lower arching branches, are not so easy to mow under. But that is the one thing I pay someone to do at our house. We planted them to mirror a large stand that have always grown in a place between us and the harbor. I remember seeing this stand first from the water years ago when I was out fishing in the fall. It was one of the few places on the Island that I saw trees growing with fall color in an undeveloped place. I found out what they were and had these planted in 1983 when we built the house and I realised that I would see the top of the original stand from our house. So now we have these in our yard. They have not yet developed the deep color of the ones closer to the harbor, but still nice. Patti