Sideroxylon lanuginosum

Michx.

Woolly buckthorn

Sapotaceae Edible: Fruit, Gum, Sap Potential hazards — see below 15,660 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Sideroxylon lanuginosum is a shrub or small tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is native to the Sun Belt and Midwest of the United States as well as Northeastern Mexico. Common names include gum bully, black haw, chittamwood, chittimwood, shittamwood, false buckthorn, gum bumelia, gum elastic, gum woolybucket, woolybucket bumelia, wooly buckthorn, wooly bumelia, ironwood and coma. The fruit of Bumelia lanuginosa is edible but can cause stomach aches or dizziness if eaten in large quantities. The Kiowa and Comanche tribes both consumed them when ripened. Gum from the trunk of the tree is sometimes chewed by children.

Description

A tree. It grows 18 m high. It is usually smaller in cultivation. It loses its leaves in cooler regions but stays evergreen in warmer places. It has a tall narrow crown. The bark is scaly and dark brown. The leaves are small and blunt tipped. They are shiny dark green on the upper surface and are densely woolly underneath. The flowers are 3 mm wide. They are bell shaped and have a 5-lobed white corolla. The fruit are purplish black. They are 12-25 mm long.

Edible Uses

The fruit can be eaten fresh or ground and mixed with water to make a soft drink. The gum is also chewed.

Traditional Uses

The gum is chewed. The fruit can be eaten. The fruit are ground and mixed with water as a soft drink. CAUTION: If the fruit are eaten in a large quantities they can cause dizziness and stomach upsets.

Known Hazards

Eating the fruit in large quantities can cause dizziness and stomach upsets.

Distribution

It is a temperate and subtropical plant. It grows in valleys and rocky slopes. It usually grows to 760 m altitude in SE of the USA. It suits hardiness zones 6-11.

Where It Grows

Central America, Mexico, North America, Slovenia, USA,

Notes

There are about 25 Bumelia species. The Bumelia may be merged with the Sideroxylon.

Synonyms

Beckstrom-Sternberg, Stephen M., and James A. Duke. "The Foodplant Database." http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300/cgi-bin/browse/foodplantdb.(ACEDB version 4.0 - data version July 1994) (As Bumelia lanuginosa) Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 68 (As Bumelia lanuginosa) Etherington, K., & Imwold, D., (Eds), 2001, Botanica's Trees & Shrubs. The illustrated A-Z of over 8500 trees and shrubs. Random House, Australia. p 148 (As Bumelia lanuginosa) Estrada-Castillon, E., et al, 2014, Ethnobotany in Rayones, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 10:62 Grandtner, M. M., 2008, World Dictionary of Trees. Wood and Forest Science Department. Laval University, Quebec, Qc Canada. (Internet database http://www.wdt.qc.ca) Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 138 (As Bumelia lanuginosa) http://www.botanic-gardens-ljubljana.com/en/plants Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 803 Little, E.L., 1980, National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees. Alfred A. Knopf. p 630 (As Bumelia lanuginosa) Moerman, D. F., 2010, Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press. p 530 Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/ (As Bumelia lanuginosa) Syn. pl. 1:237. 1805 (As Bumelia lanuginosa)