blackgum

Nyssa sylvatica · Nyssaceae · all Nyssa records · also called Black gum, Sour gum · Wikipedia

Is this one for your yard?

Enter your ZIP to see whether this is legal to plant in your state, and whether it survives your winter.

Yes, blackgum is rated fire resistant, with favorable findings across six assessments.

The USDA Forest Service and state Firewise programs place blackgum in the most favorable class on their four-part scale. North Carolina’s extension services called it low flammability in both 2005 and 2025. Ohio State University Extension rates blackgum L on a five-point scale that recommends both VL and L. On Virginia Cooperative Extension and Virginia Tech’s three-point scale, blackgum is in the lowest flammability band, L. FireSmart BC also approves blackgum as fire resistant, though it flags the plant as needing more research.

The North Carolina findings are related because the 2025 assessment succeeded the 2005 list. Even so, the favorable judgment extends across programs serving the eastern U.S., North Carolina, Ohio and the Midwest, Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic, and British Columbia. Their scales differ, but each places blackgum in a recommended class. FireSmart BC’s research flag adds caution without reversing its approval.

Blackgum is a tree in the Nyssaceae family, reaching about 50 feet at maturity. Native to the southeastern, northeastern, north-central, and south-central United States, blackgum is hardy to USDA zone 5a. Its growing requirements are full sun and moderate water. For homeowners comparing landscape plants, the available assessments consistently support blackgum as a fire-resistant choice.

Questions

Is black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) fire-resistant?

Yes, by the balance of published evidence: nine lists recommend it, including the Eastern US Fire Performance Plant Selector, North Carolina's extension services in 2005 and 2025, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, FireSmart BC, Tennessee's SP685 and Michigan State, and none condemns it. FLAMITS measurements on this record give the burn behaviour.

Is the 'Wildfire' black gum cultivar fire-resistant?

The published lists rate the species, Nyssa sylvatica; none this site cites rates the 'Wildfire' cultivar separately. 'Wildfire' is a cultivar name, not a fire rating, and this record's evidence applies to the species.

What are the disadvantages of the black gum tree in a wildfire landscape?

The sources on this record list no fire-related disadvantage; the low-flammability ratings agree across nine lists. Placement still governs: no tree belongs in the first five feet, and the FLAMITS rows record flame height, flaming duration and burnt biomass for the species, so low flammability is not fireproof.

Form: tree
Mature height: ~50 ft
Light: Full sun
Water need: moderate
Rated in: Alabama; Arkansas; British Columbia; Global +10

On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence: Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions: 1 condition stated in cited fire-evidence rows.
Fire ecology context
Placement evidence: 6 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: Alabama; Arkansas; British Columbia; Global; Maine; Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia; Michigan / Great Lakes; NC; North Carolina; North Carolina / southeastern US; Ohio / Midwest; Tennessee; Virginia / Mid-Atlantic; eastern US
Maintenance

Typed publication scope: 10 scopes across 8 cited fire sources

Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes · Official scoped edition
- AL; partial normalized coverage
  The Alabama Forestry Commission's five-page AFC-FP-04 booklet is an Alabama publication and contains 31 printed suggested or fire-prone plant occurrences. FireApproved publishes 27 exact species or genus owners and holds one infraspecific form plus two named cultivars; this historical source scope does not establish current site suitability for a particular Alabama property.
Firewise Landscaping Plants (Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia editions) · Official scoped edition
- MD; partial normalized coverage · 2015-01-08
  Maryland Forest Service says the list contains plants that can be grown in Maryland and identifies Maryland natives. FireApproved publishes 169 exact source owners from the 180 printed rows; an unrepresentable form and duplicate-owner rows are not broadened. The list calls itself non-comprehensive and does not establish suitability for every Maryland site.
- NJ; partial normalized coverage
  New Jersey DEP publishes a state edition saying the listed plants can be grown in New Jersey and are relatively resistant to fire. Its same 180 printed taxon occurrences map to the 169 conservative owners already normalized for the template family. The list is non-comprehensive and does not establish suitability for every New Jersey site or override the Pinelands Commission's separate placement and fuel-break rules.
- WV; partial normalized coverage · 2026-08-26
  West Virginia Division of Forestry publishes a state edition saying the listed plants can be grown in West Virginia and are relatively resistant to fire. Its same 180 printed taxon occurrences map to the 169 conservative owners already normalized for the template family. The list is non-comprehensive and provides no comparative or site-specific rating.
Maine fire-resistant plant list · Official scoped edition
- ME; partial normalized coverage · 2013-10-23
  Maine Forest Service presents a partial list for landscaping 30-100 feet from a structure. FireApproved publishes only 39 unique exact current/accepted matches plus Rhus typhina from the source's explicit parenthetical; unresolved, abbreviated, misspelled, absent, and duplicate-owner rows remain held.
Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · Official scoped edition
- MI; partial normalized coverage · 2007-01-01
  Michigan State University Extension Bulletin E2948 is explicitly a list of wildfire-resistant landscape plants for Michigan and includes a Michigan-native field. FireApproved publishes 221 exact GBIF owners from 226 represented source rows and holds 15 complex or non-exact rows. This dated publication scope is not a current site-suitability determination.
Fire-Resistant Landscaping in North Carolina (AG-874) · Official scoped edition
- NC; complete normalized coverage · 2025-03-26
  The complete three-table AG-874 plant list is explicitly for North Carolina and contains 202 low-, medium-, or high-flammability rows. FireApproved accounts for all source rows under its strict taxonomy and lineage rules; source scope does not establish local suitability at a particular North Carolina site.
Firewise Landscaping (OSU Extension Bulletin 921) · Official scoped edition
- OH; partial normalized coverage · 2006-03-01
  Ohio State University Extension Bulletin 921 is an Ohio publication that describes Ohio fire seasons and landscape conditions and labels nativity to Ohio. FireApproved publishes 352 exact source-owning plant records from its eight rated tables. This historical publication scope does not assert current extension endorsement or that a listed plant suits every Ohio site.
Landscaping Guidelines to Protect Your Home from Wildfire (SP685) · Official scoped edition
- TN; partial normalized coverage · 2006-10-24
  University of Tennessee Extension SP685 is Tennessee landscape guidance and publishes 78 represented plant owners. Most table rows are a carrier of Virginia Firescapes rather than an independent rating; Tennessee source scope does not change that lineage or establish site suitability.
Virginia Firescapes — Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes (430-300) · Official scoped edition
- VA; partial normalized coverage · 2009-04-15
  Virginia Cooperative Extension's publication opens with Virginia wildfire conditions, identifies its Virginia Firewise Landscaping Task Force, and labels plants native to Virginia. FireApproved publishes 306 exact source owners. Publication scope does not establish parcel suitability or current endorsement of this archived 2009 list.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution: Documented in AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV.
Native range: Current cited native range in AL, AR, CT, FL, GA, IL, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI.
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness: 2 applicable cited hardiness statements overlap but have different boundaries; compare each complete source row.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Legal-list status
Seed-list status
Reported invasive here
Broader regional context
Federal context

How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Native and introduced range evidence

These are exact U.S. botanical-area records from the cited range source. Native and introduced describe biogeographic relationship, not fire performance or planting approval. Doubtful and extinct rows stay visible but do not count as current presence.

Current native

29

exact source areas

Current introduced

0

exact source areas

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

29 native source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04

Alabama (AL)
Arkansas (AR)
Connecticut (CT)
Florida (FL)
Georgia (GA)
Illinois (IL)
Kansas (KS)
Kentucky (KY)
Louisiana (LA)
Massachusetts (MA)
Maryland (MD)
Maine (ME)
Michigan (MI)
Missouri (MO)
Mississippi (MS)
North Carolina (NC)
New Hampshire (NH)
New Jersey (NJ)
New York (NY)
Ohio (OH)
Oklahoma (OK)
Pennsylvania (PA)
Rhode I. (RI)
South Carolina (SC)
Tennessee (TN)
Texas (TX)
Virginia (VA)
Vermont (VT)
Wisconsin (WI)

The lossless worldwide derivative is retained once in the research corpus; object pages repeat only exact U.S. areas needed by the local lens. The JSON twin carries the same page assertions.

Plant hardiness evidence

These values describe the plant source. Your ZIP zone comes from the separate 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Whole-zone values stay whole-zone, and a single unresolved value is not treated as a tolerance range. Different source boundaries stay separate: overlapping statements are compared independently, while only ranges with no shared zone are called a conflict.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector · record nyssa-sylvatica · 2016-wayback · as of 2026-08-26

Source prints 5 · single-value meaning unresolved · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Nyssa sylvatica · exact match.

Source location: Cold Hardiness Zone field in the recovered selector record.

Not used for comparison: The recovered selector prints one Cold Hardiness Zone value but does not define it as a minimum threshold or a one-zone range.
Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · record tree:Nyssa sylvatica · New, January 2007 · as of 2026-08-26

4–9 explicit range · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Nyssa sylvatica · exact match.

Source location: Table 1, tree row.
USDA PLANTS Database — Plant Characteristics · record NYSY · PLANTS Help Document 2022; characteristics cache retrieved 2026-08-23 · as of 2026-08-26

Minimum 5a · no upper limit documented · half zone precision · derived containing band

Exact source measurement: -18°F; mapped only to its containing half-zone.

Source taxon: Nyssa sylvatica · source identifier match.

Source location: PlantCharacteristics record 75248, Temperature, Minimum (°F).

Conditions in the fire evidence

These describe tested or rated plant material. They are not horticultural maintenance instructions.

dead material: FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database evidence row (condition method), FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database evidence row (condition method), FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database evidence row (condition method), FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database evidence row (condition method), FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database evidence row (condition method)

Where its sources say to plant it

Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating. They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector: Landscape Zone 3 — 10–30 ft from the structure; thin vegetation, remove debris, and minimize plant massing [Fire Performance Plant Selector landscape zone] (with its recommendation)
North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: nyssa-sylvatica [nc-toolbox-flammability-facet] (with its recommendation)
Firewise Landscaping Plants: Deciduous Trees [Maryland Firewise plant-form tables] (with its recommendation)
Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes: Large sized hardwoods [Alabama Forestry Commission booklet section] (with its recommendation)
FireWise Plants offer colorful choices for Fire Safe Gardens: Scientific name / Common name / Comments table [arkansas-firewise-table] (with its recommendation)
Maine fire-resistant plant list: Trees, page 1: Black gum - Nyssa sylvatica [Maine Forest Service list section and page] (with its recommendation)

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Listed without a rating (9)

Corroboration (9 rows from 1 source)

FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

9 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
- Primary study Varner2021: Varner, J. M., Kane, J. M., Kreye, J. K., & Shearman, T. M. (2021). Litter Flammability of 50 Southeastern North American Tree Species: Evidence for Mesophication Gradients Across Multiple Ecosystems. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 4, 727042. Primary-study method: freshly fallen litter was oven-dried at 50–60°C for at least 24 hours to constant mass; each trial used a 15 g dry litter fuelbed, with five to seven trials per species.
  
  Shared row context: plant part litter; fuel all; predrying yes; device burning bench; site Varner2021-1; sampling ND.
  - Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.
    - “flame height (cm): 58.6” · condition: dead material · condition method: Materials and Methods, Laboratory Burning
      
      FLAMITS record 13608.
    - “flame intensity (kW/m): 177” · condition: dead material · condition method: Materials and Methods, Laboratory Burning
      
      FLAMITS record 13612.
  - Shared measurement context: Sustainability measurement.
    - “flaming duration (s): 55.9” · condition: dead material · condition method: Materials and Methods, Laboratory Burning
      
      FLAMITS record 13609.
    - “smouldering duration (s): 256.4” · condition: dead material · condition method: Materials and Methods, Laboratory Burning
      
      FLAMITS record 13610.
  - “burnt biomass (%): 87.9” · condition: dead material · condition method: Materials and Methods, Laboratory Burning
    
    FLAMITS record 13611; Consumability measurement.
- Primary study Kreye2023: Kreye, J. K., Kane, J. M., & Varner, J. M. (2023). Multivariate roles of litter traits on moisture and flammability of temperate northeastern North American tree species. Fire Ecology, 19, 1-12.
  
  Shared row context: plant part litter; fuel live; predrying no; device burning bench; site Kreye2023-1; sampling ND.
  - “flame height (cm): 59”
    
    FLAMITS record 18736; Combustibility measurement.
  - “time to flaming (s): 56”
    
    FLAMITS record 18737; Ignitability measurement.
  - “smouldering duration (s): 256”
    
    FLAMITS record 18738; Sustainability measurement.
  - “burnt biomass (%): 88”
    
    FLAMITS record 18739; Consumability measurement.

Guides that discuss this plant

Fire-resistant trees, by how many lists agree

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia · ITIS

Nyssa sylvatica (Black gum, Sour gum). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/nyssa-sylvatica/. Last verified 2026-08-23.