Paris, Kentucky

Nyssa silvatica -  Black Gum - Paris, Kentucky







This is a Black Gum tree at the arboretum on Seventh Street in Paris, Kentucky.  Because its wood is difficult to split Black Gum is often passed by for harvesting for use as wood.
It is one of the Appalachian highland trees seen by Lucy Braun in her mountain travels.
It is destroyed along with the other trees when surface mining clears the Appalachian land of all plants.