# Georgia Bully (Sideroxylon thornei)

> A rare thorny buckthorn of limestone swamps in the Deep South, with mildly fragrant white flowers in late spring and small black fruit for wildlife.

Also called swamp buckthorn, Thorne's buckthorn, Thorne's bumelia, Bumelia thornei. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/georgia-bully/

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 3 to 20 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 8 to 9
- Grows wild in: Floodplain forests, the forest understory, swamps and wet flats
- Native range: Alabama, Florida and Georgia
- Sun: Part, Shade
- Soil moisture: Wet, Average
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Rare, Tolerates wet soil, Wildlife value, Tolerates shade
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Georgia bully is a thorny shrub or small tree of the sapodilla family, a close relative of our gum bumelia, with milky sap in its twigs and leaves. It grows in swamps and wet hollows over limestone, centered on the Dougherty Plain of southwest Georgia and reaching into Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Botanists feared it extinct until it was found again in the 1980s. Florida lists it as endangered, and Georgia lists it as rare. Set it at the edge of a damp woodland, away from paths, where its thorny branches can spread.

## Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a medium grower, like our gum bumelia, about a foot and a half a year. Most plants are spindly shrubs up to 8 feet, but some grow into many-branched small trees of 20 feet. Its leaves are half an inch to nearly 3 inches long, with patches of tawny or rusty hairs beneath, and they drop in late winter just before the new ones open.

Clusters of small, mildly fragrant white flowers open in May and June on short spur shoots, and many kinds of insects visit them. The fruit ripens from August into October, a round black berry about a third of an inch across. Animals eat the fruit and spread the seeds.

It grows in forested limestone sinks, swamps and floodplains where the soil stays wet for long spells after rain. About 40 wild populations are known, most of them in Georgia. NatureServe ranks it vulnerable, and ditching, draining and clearcutting of its wetlands are the main threats.

## How to grow Georgia Bully

Georgia bully grows in part shade or shade, like the understory of the wet woods it comes from. It wants a moist to wet soil, neutral to slightly alkaline, that is often soaked but not flooded for long. Set plants 8 feet apart and keep them 8 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Sow it as gum bumelia is sown. Clean the seed from fruit picked as soon as it turns black, and chill it damp in the refrigerator for 60 days. Sow it in spring under a light cover of soil.

Water weekly through the first summer unless the ground stays damp. Deer browse some wild stands hard, so cage young plants where deer are common. Wear gloves when you prune, since the branches carry thorns.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, and most buckthorns can pollinate themselves, so a single plant can set fruit. The larvae of the bumelia borer, a longhorn beetle, can tunnel into the base of buckthorn stems.

## Sources

- [Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Biodiversity Portal: Sideroxylon thornei, Swamp Buckthorn](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=16690)
- [Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry: The Buckthorns (Genus Sideroxylon), Circular FDACS-P-01915 (Corogin, October 2018)](https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/82393/file/CIRCULAR_Buckthorns_SIderoxylon.pdf)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Sideroxylon thornei, Georgia bully, swamp buckthorn](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250092177)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Sideroxylon thornei, Swamp Buckthorn](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.152872/Sideroxylon_thornei)
- [Florida Natural Areas Inventory: Field Guide, Thorne's buckthorn (May 2026)](https://www.fnai.org/PDFs/FieldGuides/Sideroxylon_thornei.pdf)
- [Florida Natural Areas Inventory: Element Tracking Summary, 6/18/2026](https://www.fnai.org/PDFs/tracking/element_tracking_summary_current.pdf)
- [Alabama Natural Heritage Program: 2023 tracking list](https://cosam.auburn.edu/biology/alnhp/_assets/2023_trackinglist.pdf)
- [Georgia Biodiversity Portal: rare and protected plants tables, exported July 7, 2026](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/table/plants)
- [Alabama Plant Atlas: Sideroxylon thornei](http://www.floraofalabama.org/Plant.aspx?id=3345)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Sideroxylon chapter, gum bumelia (Bonner and Schmidtling)](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/s/at_download/file)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Sideroxylon thornei](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/SITH2)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for birds: caterpillars, fruit, mast, nests and winter cover, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Georgia Bully, add ?species=georgia-bully with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=georgia-bully&zone=8&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Georgia Bully](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=georgia-bully): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=georgia-bully
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Georgia Bully is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=georgia-bully
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Georgia Bully needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=georgia-bully:1
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Georgia Bully flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.