Nyssa
(from Nyssa, a water-nymph; in allusion to the habitat of some of the species). Tupelo-tree. ORD. Cornaceae. A small genus (five or six species) of mostly hardy trees or shrubs, inhabiting the North-eastern, temperate, and warmer parts of America, also the Eastern Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, and the Malayan Islands. Flowers small, at the apices of the axillary peduncles, in crowded heads or shortly racemose. Drupe oblong. Leaves alternate, petiolate, entire, or the younger ones dentate-lobed. The species are not much grown in this country; their chief attraction is the intense deep scarlet colour which the leaves assume in the autumn. Nyssas thrive best in low, damp, moist situations, such as peat swamps. Propagated by imported seeds, and by layers.
N. capitata (capitate). Ogechee Lime. fl., sterile ones capitate; fertile ones solitary, on very short peduncles. fr. an oblong drupe, red. l. large, shortly-stalked, oblong, oval, or obovate, mucronate or acute, tomentose beneath. Swamps of South United States. Small tree.
N. multiflora (many-flowered). fl. greenish; fertile peduncles 1 1/2in. to 3in. long, slender, three to eight-flowered. May. fr. dark blue, 1/2in. long. l. rather thick, dark green, oval or obovate, mostly acute, tomentose when young, at length shining above, 2in. to 5in. long, turning bright crimson in autumn. h. 30ft. to 50ft. North America, 1824. SYN. N. villosa. N. villosa (villous). A synonym of N. multiflora.