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Sideroxylon lanuginosum ssp. lanuginosum

Sideroxylon lanuginosum Michx. ssp. lanuginosum

Gum Bully, Gum Elastic, Chittamwood, Gum Bumelia

Sapotaceae (Sapodilla Family)

Synonym(s): Bumelia lanuginosa, Bumelia rufa

USDA Symbol: silal3

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Small to medium-sized tree; bark brown tinged with red, deeply fissured; branches with stout spines; leaves borne in spurs, oblanceolate, shiny dark green above; rusty brown or green-gray below; flowers small, many, greenish white in verticels; berries purple-black with single large seed.

From the Image Gallery

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Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Tree
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Shape: Oblanceolate
Inflorescence: Verticel
Fruit Type: Berry
Size Notes: Up to about 45 feet tall, often much shorter.
Fruit: Blue to purplish black.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul

Distribution

USA: AL , AR , FL , GA , MS , SC
Native Distribution: SE U.S. and Mississippi drainage; throughout Oklahoma.
Native Habitat: Solitary trees in open woods and on rocky thin soils or forming thickets on sand in west

Benefit

Use Ornamental: Occasionally used as ornamental.
Use Wildlife: Fruit eaten by quail and turkey in autumn; deer occasionally browse; good honey tree.
Use Other: Outer bark mucilage used as chewing gum by Indians.
Interesting Foliage: yes

From the National Organizations Directory

According to the species list provided by Affiliate Organizations, this plant is on display at the following locations:

Sibley Nature Center - Midland, TX
Brackenridge Field Laboratory - Austin, TX
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department - Austin, TX

Bibliography

Bibref 293 - Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas (1979) Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston

Search More Titles in Bibliography

Web Reference

Webref 57 - Atlas of Florida Plants (2020) Institute for Systematic Botany
Webref 38 - Flora of North America (2019) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
Webref 23 - Southwest Environmental Information Network (2009) SEINet - Arizona Chapter

From the Archive

Wildflower Newsletter 1993 VOL. 10, NO.6 - Saving Trees and Plants at New Center Site a Big Job, Director's Report, Wildflo...

Additional resources

USDA: Find Sideroxylon lanuginosum ssp. lanuginosum in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Sideroxylon lanuginosum ssp. lanuginosum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Sideroxylon lanuginosum ssp. lanuginosum

Metadata

Record Modified: 2022-10-21
Research By: TWC Staff

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