Nyssa sylvatica (Black gum)

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Nyssa sylvatica Marshall

Black gum, black tupelo, swamp tupelo

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Cornales	Includes dogwoods, hydrangeas, stickleafs, tupelos, even sillyberries
Family	Nyssaceae	Dogwood family, named for Nyssa, tupelo
Genus	Nyssa	A Greek water nymph; tupelo means roughly “swamp-tree”
Species	sylvatica	A “woodland habitat”

About plant names...

Black gum is native to eastern North America.

Identification: Black gum trees are 30-80′ (9.1-24 m) tall and 20-30′ (6.1-9.1 m) wide. The trunks are 1½-3′ (50-100 cm) in diameter. Dark gray bark becomes deeply cracked and scaly in appearance on older trees. Leaves are approximately oval-shaped, wider toward the end of the leaf, 1¾-4½″ (5-12 cm) long. They are somewhat to very shiny, dark green, and typically smooth-edged. In the fall, leaves become dark purple or scarlet. Inconspicuous flowers are greenish-white, though they do have the rather unusual distinction of being polygamo-dioecious, in case you are keeping track. (This means that trees have mostly either male or female flowers, but a few of the opposite sex as well, yet another variation in the confusing sexuality of plants.) Fruits are black or blue in color, about ⅜″ (1 cm) long.

Online References:

Wikipedia

Hort.net

The USDA Forest Service's Fire Effects Information Database

The USDA Forest Service's Silvics of North America site

The Ohio State University PLANTFacts database