Species Native to Missouri
Common Name: chittamwood
Type: Tree
Family: Sapotaceae
Native Range: Southeastern United States, Mexico
Zone: 6 to 10
Height: 15.00 to 45.00 feet
Spread: 10.00 to 30.00 feet
Bloom Time: June
Bloom Description: White
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Showy
Attracts: Birds
Fruit: Showy
Other: Thorns
Tolerate: Drought, Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil
Culture
Grow in dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Winter hardiness is not well documented. It is therefore recommended that this species be planted in protected sites in the St. Louis area which is located at the far northern edge of this tree's natural growing range.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Sideroxylon lanuginosum, commonly known as gum bumelia, woolly bumelia or woolly buckthorn, is a narrow-crowned, spiny, deciduous tree that typically grows 20 to 45' tall. It is native to the southeastern U.S. and northern Mexico north to Missouri. In Missouri, it occurs in dry or open rocky woods and glades in the southern 1/2 of the state south of the Missouri River. From Florida to Texas, it is also seen in moister soils along streams and swamps. Oblong-obovate leaves (to 3" long) are soft-hairy underneath and persist late into fall before turning an unexceptional yellow-green. Clusters of tiny white flowers appear in the leaf axils in early summer. Steyermark maintains that this is the last Missouri tree to flower other than the fall-flowering Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel). Flowers give way to small, globular, shiny, slender-stalked fruits (to 1/2" long) which mature black in fall. Branches have sharp thorns reminiscent of osage-orange (Maclura). Cut wood exudes a milky sap. Bumelia is in the same family (Sapotaceae) as the tropical sapodilla tree (Manilkara zapota) which is the source of the chicle used in chewing gum. Formerly known as Bumelia lanuginosa.
Genus name comes from the Greek words sideros meaning iron and xylon meaning wood from the hardness of the heartwood.
Specific epithte means having soft, downy hairs, in reference to the hair on the leaf undersides and twigs of this species.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
This tree has minimal ornamental value and is infrequently cultivated for landscape use. Moreover, it may be difficult to find at local nurseries. May be best utilized in wild areas, along property lines or in native plant gardens.