Part 6

The HEARTWOOD is heavy, hard and strong. Its rich chocolate-brown color, freedom from warping, and checking, susceptibility to a high polish, and durability make it highly prized for furniture and cabinet work and gunstocks. Walnut is easily propagated from the nuts, and should be more widely planted and grown for timber and nuts.

LITTLE WALNUT or TEXAS WALNUT (Juglans microcarpa Berlandier) is found on limestone banks of streams in western Texas. The stumps supply a beautiful veneer.

PECAN Carya illinoensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch

Pecan, the “State tree” of Texas, is found native in the state from the Piney Woods west throughout Central Texas, centering in the watershed of the Colorado River. It makes an excellent shade tree and is very valuable for the nut crop it bears. Many varieties are planted in orchards. The pecan is a tall-growing tree, attaining heights of over 100 feet. When grown in the open it forms a large, rounded, symmetrical top.

The outer BARK is rough, hard, tight, but broken into scales; on the limbs it is smooth at first but later tends to scale or divide as the bark grows old.

The LEAVES resemble those of the other hickories and the black walnut. They are made up of 9 to 17 leaflets, each oblong, toothed and long-pointed, and 4 to 8 inches long by about 2 inches wide.

The FLOWERS appear in early spring and hang in tassels from 2 to 3 inches long. The FRUIT is a nut 1 to 2 inches long, and ½ to 1 inch in diameter, in a thin husk which opens along its grooved seams when the fruit ripens in the fall. The nuts vary in size and thickness of shell. Cultivated varieties are sold on the market in large quantities.

The WOOD is heavy, hard, brittle, not strong, and of little value except for fuel and wagon stock. Some wood is satisfactory for making softball bats.

BITTERNUT HICKORY (Pignut) Carya cordiformis (Wangenh.) K. Koch

Bitternut, the only hickory with bright yellow buds, is a tall slender tree with a broad pyramidal crown, attaining a height of 100 feet and a diameter of 2 to 3 feet. It is found in the eastern part of the state on moist rich soils, and is not abundant.

The BARK on the trunk is granite-gray, faintly tinged with yellow, less rough than in most hickories, yet broken into thin, plate-like scales.

The bright yellow winter BUDS are compressed and scurfy. The LEAVES are alternate, compound, from 6 to 10 inches long, and composed of 5 to 11 leaflets. The individual leaflets are smaller and more slender than those of the other hickories.

The male and female FLOWERS are on the same tree. The FRUIT is about 1 inch long and thin-husked, while the nut has a thin, smoothish, gray, brittle shell. The kernel is bitter.

The WOOD is hard, strong, and heavy; reddish-brown in color, and often called red hickory. It has the same uses as the other hickories but is said to be inferior.

WATER HICKORY Carya aquatica (Michx. f.) Nutt.

This tree, as its name indicates, grows in bottomlands and rich, wet woods. It is found throughout the eastern portion of the state. It is not a large hickory, seldom attaining a height of 100 feet or a diameter of 2 feet. It is slender, with upright branches forming a narrow head. It is easily distinguished from other hickories by its reddish-brown winter buds which are covered with yellow glands that fall off easily.

The light brown BARK separates freely into long, loose, thick, plate-like scales.

LEAVES are alternate, compound, 9 to 15 inches long, with 7 to 13 slender leaflets. The FLOWERS are like those of other hickories. The FRUIT, often borne in clusters of 3 or 4, is a rather oblong nut, conspicuously four-angled, with a thin, red-brown hull that splits tardily. The nut itself is nearly as broad as long, four-angled and ridged, with a thin shell and bitter kernel.

The WOOD is heavy, strong, close grained, brown, and rather brittle. Probably used only for fuel.

SHAGBARK HICKORY Carya ovata (Mill.) K. Koch

Shagbark hickory is found from eastern Texas to Florida and north to the St. Lawrence River and Minnesota. It is a large tree of commercial importance reaching 100 feet in height and 2 to 3 feet in diameter. It thrives best on rich, damp soil.

The BARK of the trunk is rougher than on other hickories, light gray and separating into thick plates which are only slightly attached to the tree. The large terminal winter buds are egg-shaped, the persistent outer bud-scales having narrow tips.

The LEAVES are alternate, compound, from 8 to 15 inches long and composed of 5, rarely 7, obovate to ovate leaflets. The twigs are smooth or clothed with short hairs.

The male and female FLOWERS open after the leaves have attained nearly full size.

The FRUIT is borne singly or in pairs and is globular. The husk is thick and deeply grooved at the seams. The nut is pale, the shell thin, and the kernel sweet. It is sold in commercial quantities.

The WOOD is heavy, hard, tough, and strong. It is used in the manufacture of agricultural implements, tool handles, wagons, and sports equipment.

MOCKERNUT HICKORY Carya tomentosa Nutt.

Mockernut, white, or bigbud hickory, is common on well-drained soils in the eastern part of the state. It is a short-limbed tree up to 60 feet high and 1 to 2 feet in diameter.