Tupelo Tower Black Gum has forest green foliage throughout the season. The glossy pointy leaves turn outstanding shades of scarlet, orange and yellow in the fall. . It produces black berries in early fall. The furrowed black bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape. Tupelo Tower Black Gum is a deciduous tree with a strong central leader and a narrowly upright and columnar growth habit. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition. This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard. Tupelo Tower Black Gum will grow to be about 40 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 15 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 3 feet from the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 70 years or more. This tree does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have rich, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the leaves in alkaline soils.