tupelo
noun
tu·pe·lo ˈtü-pə-ˌlō 
ˈtyü-
plural tupelos
1
: any of a genus (Nyssa of the family Nyssaceae) of North American and Asian deciduous trees that have simple alternate leaves, small usually greenish-white dioecious flowers, and a rounded drupe
especially : black gum
2
: the pale soft wood of a tupelo
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web For soils with above-average moisture: river birch, black tupelo, American hornbeam, sweetbay magnolia, serviceberry and smooth alder should grow well. 
Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 20 Apr. 2022 Sherwood recommended placing a rain garden at least 10 feet away from the house, and likes to include native red maple and tupelo trees if there’s room. Jon Gorey, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Mar. 2022 The tupelo is most striking in the autumn, when its leaves turn bright scarlet. Beth Botts, chicagotribune.com, 14 Sep. 2021 These monoliths face three longleaf pine trees and are surrounded by a grove of tupelo trees. Bebe Howorth, ELLE Decor, 22 Apr. 2021 Try coasting among the tupelo trees, with trunks that stretch wide into the water, through Cedar Creek. Katie Strasberg Rousso, Southern Living, 8 Mar. 2021 The Apalachicola River of North Florida in healthier times plunged deeply into tupelo forests, where the flooding waters brewed into an organic energy drink for a web of life that included a bay acclaimed for oysters. Kevin Spear, orlandosentinel.com, 9 Dec. 2020 Other trees to rival maples with riotous hues of red, orange and yellow simultaneously are the tupelo and Persian ironwood. oregonlive, 6 Nov. 2020 During the 1800s, the eastern edges of St. Bernard and Orleans parishes were covered with a forest of baldcypress and tupelo that lived in low-salinity swamps. Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com, 3 Oct. 2020 See More
Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 20 Apr. 2022 Sherwood recommended placing a rain garden at least 10 feet away from the house, and likes to include native red maple and tupelo trees if there’s room. Jon Gorey, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Mar. 2022 The tupelo is most striking in the autumn, when its leaves turn bright scarlet. Beth Botts, chicagotribune.com, 14 Sep. 2021 These monoliths face three longleaf pine trees and are surrounded by a grove of tupelo trees. Bebe Howorth, ELLE Decor, 22 Apr. 2021 Try coasting among the tupelo trees, with trunks that stretch wide into the water, through Cedar Creek. Katie Strasberg Rousso, Southern Living, 8 Mar. 2021 The Apalachicola River of North Florida in healthier times plunged deeply into tupelo forests, where the flooding waters brewed into an organic energy drink for a web of life that included a bay acclaimed for oysters. Kevin Spear, orlandosentinel.com, 9 Dec. 2020 Other trees to rival maples with riotous hues of red, orange and yellow simultaneously are the tupelo and Persian ironwood. oregonlive, 6 Nov. 2020 During the 1800s, the eastern edges of St. Bernard and Orleans parishes were covered with a forest of baldcypress and tupelo that lived in low-salinity swamps. Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com, 3 Oct. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
perhaps from Creek *topiló, from etó tree + piló:(fa), opiló:(fa) swamp
First Known Use
circa 1730, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Geographical Definition
Tupelo
geographical name
Tu·pe·lo ˈtü-pə-ˌlō
ˈtyü-
city in northeastern Mississippi population 34,546
Note: Singer Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo in 1935.