Roughly 8″ DBH Gum Bully, this individual is my second largest of this species. Mature bark shown. I have around 5-10 adults of this species.
The gum bully, or Sideroxylon Lanuginosum, is a medium sized tree in the soap berry family, sapotaceae. (Several edible fruits are related to this tree, like Shea Butter.) It is called gum bully because the sap can be chewed as a gum; chicklets may have at one time incorporated it into the snack. It can obtain a height of 45′, and a diameter of 1.5′. It is allegedly severely susceptible to mistletoe, though I have not seen it on any on my property, even though I’ve seen mistletoe on elms on my property. The fruit are eaten by birds and small mammals. The Kiowa and Comanche cultivated and consumed this fruit. It is allegedly edible, but might upset one’s stomach if eaten in quantity. Young bark is blocky, like a black gum or persimmon, but becomes deeply ridged in a crossing pattern with age, like hickories. One of my largest trees of this species apparently died from Hypoxylon Canker. Fruit is small, and seeds are large. It does have a good taste, I think. This is a good candidate for induced polyploidy to try to create a seedless triploid. It allegedly has a very interesting grain pattern, check back later for updated pictures.
