tree identification

[Looper]

I've got a tree I'm going to take down this fall and can't figure out what it is. It's probably 35' tall, 16" diameter. I think it might be a Black Gum. I'm hoping to get several good staves out of it.

Here's some pics. Ignore the ivy growing on it:

 
 
 

[non-typical]

Persimmon

[Michael Arnette]

Yep

[Looper]

No, it's not persimmon. It has little blueish berries in the fall.

[Zradix]

Originally posted by non-typical:
Persimmon

Bark and leaves do look like it.

Does your tree bear fruit?

[Looper]

Yeah, small bluish/purple berries. It's definitely not a persimmon.

[Zradix]

hhmmm

[non-typical]

Ok-----Small Blue Berried Persimmon then....I'm never wrong, just ask my ex-wives    :D

[Zradix]

Probably is black gum then.
They both have similar bark and leaves.

[DennyK]

When I get "stumpted" with tree identification I rely on the Audabon Tree book for my region, very helpful and fun to use when out scouting.      Denny

[Pat B]

Black gum(Nissa sylvatica)aka tupelo

[achigan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyssa_sylvatica

[Cyclic-Rivers]

By the above link, it looks like you have a match. Is Tupelo good for bow staves?

[Matty]

Originally posted by non-typical:
Ok-----Small Blue Berried Persimmon then....I'm never wrong, just ask my ex-wives     :D  

[Pat B]

I have heard of black gum bows but I wouldn't cut a black gum tree for bow wood. I would take a stave or two to try, though.

[Matt Quick]

Sure looks like a black gum from the pics. A key feature in black gums is the limbs coming off the main trunk will almost all be at a 90 degree angle.

[SELFBOW19953]

Might also want to check sourwood-bark is similar to persimmon.  Flowers look like a line of bells hanging downward.  Berries are small and purplish.  Here's a video on IDing sour gum

http://video.about.com/forestry/How-to-Identify-a-Blackgum-Tree.htm.  

Notice all the tiny limbs growing off the main limbs near the top of the tree.  The berries grow in clusters.

[Pat B]

Not sourwood. We have plenty of it here and I make some of my hunting arrows from sourwood shoots.
Good call on the 90 deg. limb angle, Matt. That is a good ID tool.

[Looper]

It's definitely a blackgum. A neighbor a couple of doors down is an arborist, and he confirmed it this morning. I'd leave it up, but I've got to take down a big pine a few feet away. With the way the pine will need to fall, It'll likely fall into the black gum.

[Pat B]

If you plan on using it for firewood get a hydraulic splitter. Black gum has interlocking fibers and is a bear to split.