Virginia Tech Dendrology

gum bumelia Sapotaceae Sideroxylon lanuginosum Michx. symbol: SILA20
Leaf: Alternate, elliptical or obovate, 1-3 inch long, entire margin, rounded tip and tapering base, dark green, shiny-glabrous above with white-gray, felt-like hair below; clustered or whorled on lateral spur shoots.
Flower: Species is monoecious; inconspicious, white, in small clusters, sweet and fragrant, open mid-summer.
Fruit: Blue to black berries, oval in shape, edible, ripen in the fall.
Twig: Slender, gray or rusty-hairy, often armed with thorns at the tips.
Bark: Gray to brown, becoming darker with age.
Form: Small tree up to 40 feet in height with an open crown and branches growing close to the ground. *text and photos courtesy Oana Popescu and Carol Loopstra, Texas A&M
Looks like: buckthorn bumelia - Osage-orange - common buckthorn - blackgum

Additional Range Information: Sideroxylon lanuginosum is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database - Horticulture Information - USDAFS Forest Products Lab
All material 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information