Wood Species Guide
Water Tupelo
Nyssa aquatica
Also called: Tupelo, Tupelo Gum, Cotton Gum, Water Gum
What Water Tupelo looks like
Heartwood is a light gray to pale brown, and the sapwood is a creamy white. Color is plain and even.
Grain and texture
Interlocked grain with a fine, uniform texture. The base of swamp-grown trees is light and spongy, which makes it a favorite for carving.
Working Water Tupelo: planing, cutting and gluing
Interlocked grain makes it fuzz and tear out when planing, and it can be hard to split. Carvers love the swollen-base wood because it cuts cleanly with knives. Glues and holds screws well.
Finishing Water Tupelo: oil, film finishes and epoxy
Takes paint and stain well, and carvers paint it for decoys. Clear finishes work but the color is plain. Bonds well with epoxy.
Durability, stability and Florida humidity
Not decay resistant. It moves and can warp while drying, so dry it carefully and use it indoors.
Shop notes from our Fort Myers shop
Tupelo is the wood behind the famous carved decoys and the honey of the Florida Panhandle swamps. It is more of a carving and utility wood than a showpiece. If you are carving a fish or a bird, it is one of the best domestic choices. For furniture it is a solid paint-grade option.
Common uses for Water Tupelo
Carving, decoys, crates, pallets, paint-grade furniture and veneer core.
Sustainability and CITES status
Not listed in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List.
Safety and toxicity
- No common reactions reported
No reactions beyond ordinary wood dust irritation have been reported.
- In the shop
- Normal dust collection + mask when sanding
- Food contact
- Use with care for cutting boards, bowls and utensils
General information, not medical advice. See a doctor if you have a reaction.
No specific reactions are documented beyond normal wood dust risks.
Water Tupelo in stock now
Ask us. We can often source it.
We don't have Water Tupelo listed online right now, but new slabs and lumber come in all the time and not everything makes it to the website. Tell us what you're building and we'll check our racks and suppliers.
Similar woods: Domestic Utility Hardwoods
- BasswoodIn stockTilia americana Basswood is the carver's wood: soft, light, pale and so fine-textured that it holds crisp detail with little...
- PoplarIn stockLiriodendron tulipifera Yellow poplar is the affordable, easy-to-work hardwood that ends up inside most painted cabinets and trim. In slab...
- American HollyIlex opaca American holly yields one of the whitest woods in the world, a favorite for inlay and contrast work....
- American SycamorePlatanus occidentalis American sycamore is a plain, inexpensive wood until you quartersaw it. Then it is covered in a lace-like...
- AspenPopulus tremuloides and Populus grandidentata (sold together as aspen) Aspen is the pale, lightweight poplar of northern forests, plain in looks but easy on tools. It is...
- Black TupeloNyssa sylvatica (swamp tupelo is often treated as N. sylvatica var. biflora) Black tupelo, or black gum, is a native tree of Florida and the eastern US with plain, tough,...