Swamp Tupelo

Nyssa biflora

Found in swamps; pocosins and bay forests. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

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Height: 60–100 feet
Spread: 20–40 feet
Light: Full sun, Partial shade
Soil moisture: Usually moist

Space about 30 ft apart from its recorded spread. Enter your bed size for a count

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Nyssa biflora — bloom photograph — (c) mfeaver, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0 · Original photograph

At a glance

Life cycle: Woody perennial
Leaves: Deciduous
Bloom: April to June
Fruiting season: August to October

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Recorded in 32 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Named place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Dense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 164 animals.

Belted Kingfisher
Megaceryle alcyon
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Black-crowned Night-heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Blue Jay
Cyanocitta cristata
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Polioptila caerulea
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Common Yellowthroat
Geothlypis trichas
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Double-crested Cormorant
Phalacrocorax auritus
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Gray Catbird
Dumetella carolinensis
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Mourning Dove
Zenaida macroura
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Accipiter striatus
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Tufted Titmouse
Baeolophus bicolor
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Turkey Vulture
Cathartes aura
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Yellow-breasted Chat
Icteria virens
Birds. 9 shared habitats
Yellow-crowned Night-heron
Nyctanassa violacea
Birds. 9 shared habitats
American Black Duck
Anas rubripes
Birds. 8 shared habitats
American Crow
Corvus brachyrhynchos
Birds. 8 shared habitats
Black-and-White Warbler
Mniotilta varia
Birds. 8 shared habitats
Brown Creeper
Certhia americana
Birds. 8 shared habitats
Carolina Chickadee
Poecile carolinensis
Birds. 8 shared habitats
Cedar Waxwing
Bombycilla cedrorum
Birds. 8 shared habitats
Common Nighthawk
Chordeiles minor
Birds. 8 shared habitats
Cooper's Hawk
Accipiter cooperii
Birds. 8 shared habitats

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

82CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Nyssa

Acharia stimuleaSaddleback Caterpillar Moth
Achatia distinctaDistinct Quaker
Acronicta afflictaAfflicted Dagger
Acronicta fragilisFragile Dagger
Acronicta funeralisFunerary Dagger, Paddle Caterpillar
Acronicta impletaYellow-Haired Dagger
Acronicta ovataOvate Dagger, Epauleted Oak Dagger
Actias lunaLuna Moth
Actrix nyssaecolellaTupelo Leaffolder
Adoneta spinuloidesPurple-Crested Slug

Show all 82

Allotria elonymphaFalse Underwing
Alsophila pometariaFall Cankerworm Moth
Amorbia humerosanaWhite-Lined Leafroller Moth
Amphipyra pyramidoidesMiranda Underwing, Copper Underwing, Copper Amphipyra
Antispila nysaefoliellaTupelo Leafminer Moth
Argyrotaenia quercifolianaYellow-Winged Oak Leafroller Moth, Lined Oak Leafroller
Argyrotaenia velutinanaRed-Banded Leafroller Moth, Jack Pine Tube Moth
Cecrita biundataWavy-Lined Heterocampa
Cecrita guttivittaMaple Prominent, Saddled Prominent
Celastrina neglectaSummer Azure
Cenopis directanaChokecherry Leafroller Moth
Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
Citheronia regalisRoyal Walnut Moth, Hickory Horned Devil
Cleora sublunariaDouble-Lined Gray
Coelodasys unicornisUnicorn Caterpillar Moth
Darapsa choerilusAzalea Sphinx
Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
Ennomos subsignariaElm Spanworm Moth
Episimus argutanaSumac Leaftier
Euclea delphiniiSpiny Oak-Slug Moth
Eupithecia columbiataColumbia Pug
Eupithecia fletcherataFletcher's Eupithecia
Eupithecia jejunataSwift Pug
Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
Eutrapela clematariaCurved-Tooth Geometer, Purplish Brown Looper
Glenoides texanariaTexas Gray
Halysidota tessellarisBanded Tussock Moth, Pale Tiger Moth
Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
Hydriomena transfigurataTransfigured Hydriomena
Hypagyrtis unipunctataOne-Spotted Variant
Hypena bijugalisDimorphic Bomolocha, Dimorphic Snout
Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
Iridopsis defectariaBrown-Shaded Gray, Willow Looper
Isa textulaCrowned Slug
Kocakina fidelisIntractable Quaker, Green Fruitworm, Fourlined Green Fruitworm
Lambdina fervidariaCurve-Lined Looper Moth
Lithacodes fasciolaYellow-Shouldered Slug
Lithophane antennataAshen Pinion
Lithophane unimodaDowdy Pinion
Machimia tentoriferellaGold-Striped Leaftier Moth
Malacosoma americanaEastern Tent Caterpillar
Malacosoma disstriaForest Tent Caterpillar
Melanolophia canadariaCanadian Melanolphia, Variable Redmarked Looper
Melanolophia signatariaSignate Melanolphia
Morrisonia confusaConfused Woodgrain
Morrisonia latexFluid Arches, Fluid Mamestra
Natada nasoniNason's Slug Moth
Oedemasia concinnaRed-Humped Caterpillar, Red-Humped Appleworm
Oedemasia leptinoidesBlack-Blotched Schizura
Olethreutes fasciatanaBanded Olethreutes
Oneida lunulalisOrange-Tufted Oneida
Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
Orthosia hibisciSpeckled Green Fruitworm Moth, Speckled Green Quaker
Packardia geminataJeweled Tail Slug Moth
Palthis angulalisDark-Spotted Palthis
Papilio cresphontesEastern Giant Swallowtail
Phigalia strigatariaSmall Phigalia, Small Oak Looper
Plagodis alcoolariaHollow-Spotted Plagodis
Polygrammate cadburyiCadbury's Lichen Moth, Cadbury's Mystique
Polygrammate hebraeicumThe Hebrew
Probole alienariaDogwood Probole, Alien Probole
Prolimacodes badiaSkiff Moth, Skiff Caterpillar
Sereda tautanaSpeckled Sereda
Spiramater lutraDarling Mamestra, Splashed Arches, Otter Spiramater, Otter Arches
Synanthedon rubrofasciaBlack Gun Borer
Tetracis cachexiataWhite Slant-Line
Tortricidia testaceaEarly Button Slug
Actrix dissimulatrix
Chionodes pereyra
Ectoedemia nyssaefoliella
Eupithecia swettii
Xenolechia ontariensis

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

2BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Nyssa

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

0Specialist beesPollen specialists

10BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Nyssa

Hylocichla mustelinaWood Thrush
Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
Catharus fuscescensVeery
Catharus guttatusHermit Thrush
Catharus minimus/bicknelliGray-cheeked/Bicknell's Thrush
Mareca streperaGadwall
Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
Sialia sialisEastern Bluebird
Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Nyssaceae
Soil pH: Acidic
Flower color: Green or white
Growth rate: Moderate
Growth habit: Single stem
Foliage color: Green
Fruit begins: August
Fruit ends: October

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope

Bloom · “April to June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
Flower color · “Green or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
Fruit ends · “October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
Growth habit · “Single stem” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
Height · “60–100 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Soil pH · “Acidic” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Spread · “20–40 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox

Also known as

Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora; Swamp Gum

Conservation status

Virginia rank	S5
Global rank	G5
VA status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

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Swamp Tupelo

At a glance

Natural habitats

Also found with this plant

Who uses this plant?

Plant details

Conservation status

Will it fit your yard?

Sources

More Nyssa