Leaves are alternate, oval, and have entire leaf margins, but the leaf margins are sometimes slightly toothed. Flowers are either polygamous or dioecious. Fruit is a drupe.
Leaves are glossy above and somewhat bloomy beneath.
Buds are imbricate. Flowers are inconspicuous and borne in May or June. Fruit is a blue-black drupe that matures in October. Nyssa sylvatica The blackgum, often call sourgum, has been considered a weed in the forest due to the low value of the lumber in Ohio. In the lowlands it is occasionally found in year-round swamps with elm and in the hills and on dryer slopes with oaks and hickories.