The genus takes the name of a water nymph, which suits trees that keep their feet in swamps and river bottoms. Nyssa sylvatica, the black gum, turns before anything else in the Southern woods, a hard scarlet in September while the oaks are still green, and holds glossy foliage the rest of the year. Bees make a dark honey from the flowers.

Nyssa ogeche is the Ogeechee lime, a small tree of the coastal plain of Georgia and north Florida whose sour red fruit was once made into a drink and a preserve, and whose flowers give the Apalachicola the tupelo honey the region is known for. Both species take flooding and heavy soil without complaint. Give the black gum room and sun, and expect the fall color to be the reason anyone remembers the tree.