Black Gum? --A Foraging Family Mystery

As the days lengthen, I have been able to steal a few minute after work to explore the forests that surround our house. Last week, I found a twisted, gnarled tree with deeply furrowed bark in a black ash swamp. I looked again and tried not to get my hopes up. Nyssa sylvatica, the black gum tree, is a rare find here in Vermont where it is at the far northern edge of its range. So far as I know, there are no edible parts of the black gum. Even if there were, I would never harvest anything from this precious visitor from the South.

The dried remains of a leathery leaf hung from a nearby twig. I flattened them gently between my fingers.

Could it be? I'm still not sure.

I'll have to wait until all the snow melts or the first leaves push out of their buds. But that is a month and a half from now. Spring advances, and we wait. Me, the foraging family, and a beautiful and mysterious tree in the nearby swamp.