Part 6

The native peach-leaved willow, Salix amygdaloides Anders., is a smaller tree with leaves 2 to 6 inches long, 1/2 to 1-1/2 inches wide, light green and shining above, pale and glaucous beneath, on petioles about 3/4 inch long.

The white willow, Salix alba L., and the crack willow, Salix fragilis L., with bright yellow twigs, are European species which are often planted for ornamental purposes. Their flowers have only 2 stamens each and their leaves are silky, bright green above and glaucous beneath. The latter has twigs that are very brittle at the base. Another European species is the weeping willow, Salix babylonica L., which may be known by its slender drooping branches.

+BLACK WALNUT+ Juglans nigra L.

Leaf, one-fifth natural size. Twig, three-quarters natural size.]

THIS valuable forest tree occurs on rich bottom lands and on moist fertile hillsides throughout the State. The black walnut is found from Massachusetts westward to Minnesota and southward to Florida and Texas. In the forest, where it grows singly, it frequently attains a height of 100 feet with a straight stem, clear of branches for half its height. In open-grown trees, the stem is short and the crown broad and spreading.

The bark is thick, dark brown in color, and divided by rather deep fissures into rounded ridges. The twigs have cream-colored chambered pith and leaf-scars without downy pads above.

The leaves are alternate, compound, 1 to 2 feet long, consisting of from 15 to 23 leaflets of yellowish-green color. The leaflets are about 3 inches long, extremely tapering at the end and toothed along the margin.

The fruit is a nut, borne singly or in pairs, and enclosed in a solid green husk which does not split open, even after the nut is ripe. The nut itself is black with a very hard, thick, finely ridged shell, enclosing a rich, oily kernel edible and highly nutritious.

The heartwood is of superior quality and value. It is heavy, hard and strong, and its rich chocolate-brown color, freedom from warping and checking, susceptibility to a high polish, and durability make it highly prized for a great variety of uses, including furniture, cabinet work, and gun-stocks. Walnut is easily propagated from the nuts and grows rapidly on good soil, where it should be planted and grown for timber and nuts. It is the most valuable tree found in the forests of Illinois and originally grew extensively throughout the State.

+BUTTERNUT+ Juglans cinerea L.

THE butternut, sometimes called the white walnut, is a smaller tree than the black walnut, although it may reach a height of 70 feet and a diameter of 3 feet. It is found all over the State, but the best is in the ravines of southern Illinois. The butternut is found from Maine to Michigan and southward to Kansas, Tennessee and northern Georgia. The trunk is often forked or crooked and this makes it less desirable for saw timber.

Twig, one-half natural size. Leaf, one-third natural size.]

The bark differs from that of the black walnut in being light gray on branches and on the trunk of small trees, becoming darker on large trees. This tree may also be distinguished from black walnut by the velvet collars just above the scars left by last year's leaves. The twigs have chocolate-brown chambered pith and bear obliquely blunt winter buds somewhat flattened, brownish and hairy.

The compound leaves are 15 to 30 inches long, each with 11 to 17 sharp-pointed, oblong, finely toothed leaflets 2 to 3 inches long.

The staminate and pistillate flowers are on the same tree, the former in long yellowish-green drooping catkins and the latter are short with red-fringed stigmas.

The fruit is a nut enclosed in an oblong, somewhat pointed, yellowish-green husk, about 2 inches long, which is covered with short, rusty, clammy, sticky hairs. The nut has a rough, grooved shell and an oily, edible kernel.

The wood is light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, light brown, and takes a good polish. It is used for interior finish of houses and for furniture. A yellow or orange dye can be made from the husks of the nuts.

A KEY TO THE ILLINOIS HICKORIES

A. Bud scales opposite; appearing somewhat grooved lengthwise; leaflets usually lanceolate, generally curved backwards; nut-husks usually winged; nut thin-shelled. B. Leaflets 5-9; leaves 6-10 inches long, winter buds bright yellow; nut gray globose, meat bitter C. cordiformis BB. Leaflets 7-13; leaves 9-13 inches long, winter buds dark brown, nut brown, pear-shaped, meat bitter C. aquatica BBB. Leaflets 9-17; leaves 12-20 inches long, winter buds yellow, nut elongated, meat sweet C. illinoensis

AA. Bud scales not in pairs; more than 6; leaflets not recurved; nut husks usually not winged; nut thick-shelled. B. Buds large; twigs stout; nut angled; kernel sweet. C. Leaflets 5; leaves 8-14 inches long, nut whitish, bark shaggy C. ovata CC. Leaflets 7-9; leaves 15-20 inches long, nut reddish-brown C. laciniosa CCC. Leaflets 7-9; leaves 8-12 inches long, hairy C. tomentosa BB. Buds small; twigs slender; nut angled. C. Leaflets usually 5; leaves 8-12 inches long; fruit pear-shaped; kernel astringent C. glabra CC. Leaflets usually 7; leaves 8-10 inches long; fruit ovoid; shell ridged, thin; kernel sweet C. ovalis CCC. Leaflets usually 7; leaves 10-12 inches long; shell thin, conspicuously veined C. buckleyi

+BITTERNUT HICKORY+ Carya cordiformis K. Koch

THE bitternut hickory is a tall slender tree with broadly pyramidal crown, attaining a height of 100 feet and a diameter of 2 to 3 feet. It is found along stream banks and on moist soil, and it is well known by its roundish bitter nuts.

Twig, one-half natural size. Leaf, one-third natural size.]

The bark on the trunk is granite-gray, faintly tinged with yellow and smoother than in most of the hickories, yet broken into thin plate-like scales. The winter buds are compressed, scurfy, and of a bright yellow color.

The leaves are alternate, compound, from 6 to 10 inches long, and composed of from 7 to 11 leaflets. The individual leaflets are smaller and more slender than those of the other hickories.

The flowers are of two kinds on the same tree; the staminate in long pendulous green catkins, the pistillate in 2 to 5 flowered spikes, 1/2 inch long, brown-hairy. The fruit is about 1 inch long and thin-husked, while the nut is usually thin-shelled and brittle, and the kernel very bitter.

The wood is hard, strong and heavy, reddish-brown in color. From this last fact it gets its local name of red hickory. It is said to be somewhat inferior to the other hickories, but is used for the same purposes.

+PECAN+ Carya illinoensis (Wang.) K. Koch