Gum bully

Description

Sideroxylon lanuginosum is a shrub or small tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is considered endangered in much of its native range. 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. Sideroxylon is a genus of trees in the family Sapotaceae described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. They are collectively known as bully trees. The generic name is derived from the Greek words (sideros), meaning "iron", and (xylon), meaning "wood." The genus is distributed mainly in North and South America, but also in Africa, Madagascar, southern Asia, and various oceanic islands. Some species, such as gum bully (S. lanuginosum), S. tenax, and buckthorn bully (S. lycioides), are found in subtropical areas of North America. The only South African species, the white milkwood (S. inerme), is associated with three historical sites, and these individuals were declared national monuments due to their unusual longevity. Several species have become rare due to logging and other forms of habitat destruction.