tupelo: see black gum.

Tupelo National Battlefield: see Tupelo, Miss.; National Parks and Monuments (table).

Tupelo, city (1990 pop. 30,685), seat of Lee co., NE Miss.; founded 1859, inc. 1870. It is the trade, processing, and shipping center for a cotton, grain, dairying, and livestock area. Once important for timber, the city is named after the tupelo, or black gum, tree. Dairy products, furniture, lighting fixtures, corrugated partitions, tires, and wood- and metalworking machinery are produced, and there is poultry processing. A U.S. fish hatchery is there. On the Civil War battlefield of Tupelo, now a national battlefield (see National Parks and Monuments, table), Union troops repulsed an attack by Gen. N. B. Forrest (July 14, 1864) but nevertheless retreated. Nearby is the scene of a victory of Chickasaw and British forces over the Choctaw and French (May 26, 1736). Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo; his home is a tourist attraction. Tombigbee State Park and the Natchez Trace Parkway visitor center are in the vicinity.

Any of about seven species of trees that make up the genus Nyssa in the sour gum family (Nyssaceae). Five are found in moist or swampy areas of eastern North America, one in eastern Asia, and one in western Malaysia. They all have horizontal or hanging branches, broad leaves, and male and female flowers on different plants. North American species bear greenish-white flowers and small bluish-black or purple berries. The most widespread North American species is the black gum. Tupelo wood, most of which comes from the water tupelo (N. aquatica), is pale yellow to light brown, fine-textured, and strong. It is used for crates and boxes, flooring, wooden utensils, and veneers.

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