Part 16

Buds: Ovoid, short-pointed, up to ½ inch long, covered by shiny silvery-golden scales and tipped with a small tuft of hairs.

Leaves: Alternate, pinnately compound, with 5-7 leaflets; leaflets lance-shaped, pointed at the tip, tapering to the base, finely toothed along the edges, dark green and smooth or sometimes hairy on the upper surface, paler and smooth or hairy on the lower surface, up to 6 inches long, less than half as wide, the stalks covered with reddish and yellowish scales and hairs.

Flowers: Staminate and pistillate borne separately, but on the same tree, appearing after the leaves have begun to unfold, minute, without petals, the staminate crowded in slender, drooping catkins, the pistillate in groups of 1-2.

Fruit: Spherical to ellipsoid, up to 1½ inches across, the husk yellow-green, thin, minutely hairy or scaly, splitting nearly to the base, the nut 4-angled, the seed sweet.

Wood: Heavy, hard, brown.

Uses: Fuel, fence posts.

Habitat: Dry ridges and cliffs.

Range: Southern Indiana across to Kansas, south to Texas and Louisiana.

Distinguishing Features: The Black Hickory differs from the somewhat similar Pignut and Sweet Pignut Hickories by the yellow scales along the leafstalks.

MOCKERNUT HICKORY Carya tomentosa (Poir.) Nutt.

Other Name: White Hickory.

Growth Form: Medium or tall tree to 90 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 3 feet; crown rounded, the branchlets either erect or hanging.

Bark: Dark gray, shallowly furrowed, not scaly, often with a diamond-shaped pattern.

Twigs: Slender or relatively stout, usually hairy, gray; leaf scars alternate, 3-lobed, not elevated, with several bundle traces.

Buds: Ovoid, rounded or pointed at the tip, up to nearly 1 inch long, reddish-brown, hairy.

Leaves: Alternate, pinnately compound, with 5-9 leaflets; leaflets broadly lanceolate to oblanceolate, pointed at the tip, rounded or tapering to the base, up to 8 inches long, about half as wide, finely toothed along the edge, yellow-green and hairy on the upper surface, paler and hairy on the lower surface.

Flowers: Staminate and pistillate borne separately, but on the same tree, appearing after the leaves have begun to unfold, minute, without petals, the staminate crowded in slender, drooping catkins, the pistillate in groups of 2-5.

Fruit: Ellipsoid or obovoid or spherical, up to 2 inches across, the husk reddish-brown, up to ¼ inch thick, smooth or slightly hairy, the nut sometimes 4-angled, reddish-brown, the seed sweet but small.

Wood: Heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, dark brown.

Uses: Tool handles, fuel, fence posts.

Habitat: Dry wooded slopes; shaded woods.

Range: Massachusetts across to southern Ontario, south to eastern Texas, east to Florida.

Distinguishing Features: Mockernut Hickory is distinguished from all other Illinois hickories by its usually 7 or 9 hairy leaflets with hairy leafstalks and hairy twigs. The large fruits with the small seeds within, which may account for the common name, are also distinctive.

CHESTNUT Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.

Growth Form: Large tree, formerly attaining a height of 100 feet; trunk diameter up to 3 feet; crown broadly rounded.

Bark: Dark brown, shallowly furrowed.

Twigs: Slender, reddish-brown, angular, glabrous or nearly so; leaf scars alternate, half-round, elevated, with several bundle traces.

Buds: Ovoid, pointed, up to ⅓ inch long, dark brown, smooth.