Nyssa sylvatica -Marshall-
Black gum, tupelo


Entry Type: Species

Species Name: Nyssa sylvatica -Marshall-

Common Name: Black gum, tupelo

Myaamia Name: neenasionki

Description:

Harvest Seasons: Winter

Harvest Comments:

Habitats: Beech-Oak-Maple Mixed Mesophytic

Uses: Medicinal, Technology

Locations: Undetermined

Sources

Dunn, J.P. ca. 1900

Reference Type: Description

Archival Data:

Dunn gives this as and describes it as ‘a tall tree of the southwest of the United States which attains a height of 50 to 80 feet.  My informant did not know the English name, but the Peoria name, as above, means : the "unrecognized one".  He describes it as resembling a pecan tree, with few limbs only, truck straight, and resembling closely the white oak.  It bears nuts (not certain about this) and the wood is good for burning.  The roots are called "great medicine" by the untutored natives of the western prairies.  My informant saw it nowhere but around the council-house of the Seneca Indians, Quapaw Reservation, Indian Territory’

Comments: N/A

Gatschet, A.S. ca. 1895

Reference Type: Use - Medicinal

Archival Data:

Gatschet gives form as , describing it as ‘a straight-grown, nut bearing tree with few limbs only and from fifty to eighty feet in height, resembling the white oak; probably the black gumtree. The graining runs crosswise and very close, so that it is almost impossible to split the wood and in the Indian territory it serves for fuel only. Of the bark the Indians make tea against pulminary consumption. The bark is rough and quite thick. It is scarce there; one of them stands by the council house of the Seneca nation, another near Cayuga, I. T. The Peorias do not know its English name and hence call it the unrecognized or undefined from nänáⁿzo’; ‘the unrecognized tree; SW saw some in Indiana where they call it the black gum’

Comments: N/A

Dunn, J.P. ca. 1900

Reference Type: Use - Technology

Archival Data: Not necessarily the same tree species; but the Peoria account of this medicine tree by Dunn is reminiscent of a Shawnee account of a tree with impressive medicinal properties; whose fruits produced a pain-numbing effect in humans as powerful as opium

Comments: N/A

No sources entered.

No sources entered.

Legends

  • L.: L. stands for Carl Linneaus, a Swedish botanist and zoologist living from 1707 - 1778, who formed the binomial nomenclature system for scientific naming of species (the two part name). His initial after a scientific name indicates he was the authority for that species name.
  • sp.: Indicates the actual species name cannot or need not be specified. Example: Lilium sp. indicates a single species in the genus Lilium that is not known or does not need to be specified.
  • spp.: (plural) indicates "several species", two or more species of the given genus. Example: Lilium spp. indicates 2 or more species in the genus that cannot or do not need to be distinguished.
  • Use - Unknown: A record for this plant exists but does not include explicit information about the plant's cultural use. It is probable the Myaamia used the plant.
  • Botanical Sources: Sources of any botanical data for this plant species that is not related to its cultural use or significance.
  • Related Sources: Data indirectly related to Myaamia ethnobotany, including non-Myaamia uses of the plant in contemporary and historic times.
  • Myaamia Archival Sources: All records of plant use obtained directly from a Myaamia tribal member in an interview, recorded by a second party or by self-recording.
  • Undetermined (Plant Use): There exists use or other information about a certain, unknown plant species, but the specific species has not yet been determined.
  • Medicinal: For the purposes of this database, medicinal uses of plants and medicinal knowledge are defined as: Commonly held communal knowledge regarding the use of plant-based substances that aid in maintaining a healthy mind, body or spirit, including tonics and teas.
  • Technology: For the purposes of this database, technological uses of plants are defined as: Plants used in the making of food processing, canoes, rafts, dyes, tools, utensils, weapons, hunting and fishing gear (i.e. net, weir, etc.), cordage, string, rope, fodder plant species, firewood, any plants used in trade, etc.
  • Material: For the purposes of this database, material uses of plants are defined as: Plants used in construction of dwellings (floor mats, roofing, side walls), furniture, baskets, storage items, musical instruments, games, crafts, jewelry, cordage used in crafts, etc.
  • Food: For the purposes of this database, food uses of plants are defined as: Plants used as consumed food, spices and seasonings, but not teas or tonics.
  • Customs: For the purposes of this database, customary uses of plants are defined as: Plants involved in a customary ceremony, ritual or traditional event, including ritual smoking, chewing tobacco, war rituals, special mats used to sit on during ceremonies. Customary uses of plants, in this database, does not including plants used for recreation (material), structures where ceremonies take place (material) or medicinal smoking (medicinal).
  • Eastern Myaamia Lands: Eastern Myaamia lands (eastern myaamionki) are centered around northern Indiana, and including western Ohio, eastern Illinois, southern Michigan, and the northernmost portions of Kentucky.
  • Western Myaamia Lands: Western Myaamia lands (western myaamionki) include western Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma.