Part 20

=Bark.=--Trunk in young trees and in the smaller branches ash-gray, smoothish to seamy; in old trees, extremely characteristic, usually shaggy, the outer layers separating into long, narrow, unequal plates, free at one or both ends, easily detachable; branchlets smooth and gray, with conspicuous leaf-scars; season's shoots stout, more or less downy, numerous-dotted.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds tomentose, ovate to oblong, terminal buds large, much swollen before expanding; inner scales numerous, purplish-fringed, downy, enlarging to 5-6 inches in length as the leaves unfold. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate, 12-20 inches long; petiole short, rough, and somewhat swollen at base; stipules none; leaflets usually 5, sometimes 3 or 7, 3-7 inches long, dark green above, yellowish-green and downy beneath when young, the three upper large, obovate to lanceolate, the two lower much smaller, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, all finely serrate and sharp-pointed; base obtuse, rounded or acute, mostly inequilateral; nearly sessile save the odd leaflet; stipels none.

=Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile and fertile flowers on the same tree, appearing when the leaves are fully grown,--sterile at the base of the season's shoots, in slender, green, pendulous catkins, 4-6 inches long, usually in threes, branching umbel-like from a common peduncle; flower-scales 3-parted, the middle lobe much longer than the other two, linear, tipped with long bristles; calyx adnate to scale; stamens mostly in fours, anthers yellow, bearded at the tip: fertile flowers single or clustered on peduncles at the ends of the season's shoots; calyx 4-toothed, hairy, adherent to ovary; corolla none; stigmas 2, large, fringed.

=Fruit.=--October. Spherical, 3-6 inches in circumference: husks rather thin, firm, green turning to brown, separating completely into 4 sections: nut variable in size, subglobose, white, usually 4-angled: kernel large, sweet, edible.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers light, well-drained, loamy soil; when well established makes a moderately rapid growth; difficult to transplant, rarely offered in nurseries; collected plants seldom survive; a fine tree for landscape gardening, but its nuts are apt to make trouble in public grounds. Propagated from a seed. A thin-shelled variety is in cultivation.

1. Winter buds. 2. Flowering branch. 3. Sterile flower, front view. 4. Sterile flower, back view. 5. Fertile flower. 6. Fruiting branch.

=Carya tomentosa, Nutt.=

Hicoria alba, Britton.

MOCKERNUT. WHITE-HEART HICKORY. WALNUT.

Habitat and Range.--In various soils; woods, dry, rocky ridges, mountain slopes.

Niagara peninsula and westward.

Maine and Vermont,--not reported; New Hampshire,--sparingly along the coast; Massachusetts,--rather common eastward; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--common.

South to Florida, ascending 3500 feet in Virginia; west to Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Indian territory, and Texas.

=Habit.=--A tall and rather slender tree, 50-70 feet high, with a diameter above the swell of the roots of 2-3 feet; attaining much greater dimensions south and west; trunk erect, not shaggy, separating into a few rather large limbs and sending out its upper branches at a sharp angle, forming a handsome, wide-spreading, pyramidal head.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk dark gray, thick, hard, close, and rough, becoming narrow-rugged-furrowed; crinkly on small trunks and branches; leaf-scars prominent; season's shoots stout, brown, downy or dusty puberulent, dotted, resinous-scented.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds large, yellowish-brown, ovate, downy. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate, 15-20 inches long; rachis large, downy, swollen at the base; stipules none; leaflets 7-9, opposite, large, yellowish-green and smooth above, beneath paler and thick-downy, at least when young, turning to a clear yellow or russet brown in autumn, the three upper obovate, the two lower ovate, all the leaflets slightly serrate or entire, pointed, base acute to rounded, nearly sessile except the odd one. Aromatic when bruised.

=Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile and fertile flowers on the same tree, appearing when the leaves are fully grown,--sterile at the base of the season's shoots, in slender, pendulous, downy catkins, 4-8 inches long, usually in threes, branching umbel-like from a common peduncle; scales 3-lobed, hairy; calyx adnate; stamens 4 or 5, anthers red, bearded at the tip: fertile flowers on peduncles at the end of the season's shoots; calyx toothed, hairy, adherent to ovary; corolla none; stigmas 2, hairy.

=Fruit.=--October. Generally sessile on terminal peduncles, single or in pairs, as large or larger than the fruit of the shagbark, or as small as that of the pignut, oblong-globose to globose: husk hard and thick, separating in 4 segments nearly to the base, strong-scented: nut globular, 4-ridged near the top, thick-shelled: kernel usually small, sweet, edible. The superior size of the fruit and the smallness of the kernel probably give rise to the common name, "mockernut."

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers a rich, well-drained soil, but grows well in rocky, ledgy, exposed situations, and is seldom disfigured by insect enemies. Young trees have large, deep roots, and are difficult to transplant successfully unless they have been frequently transplanted in nurseries, from which, however, they are seldom obtainable. Propagated from seed.

1. Winter buds. 2. Flowering branch. 3. Sterile flower, front view. 4. Sterile flower, side view. 5. Sterile flower, top view. 6. Fertile flower, side view. 7. Fruiting branch.

=Carya porcina, Nutt.=

Hicoria glabra, Britton.

PIGNUT. WHITE HICKORY.

=Habitat and Range.=--Woods, dry hills, and uplands.

Niagara peninsula and along Lake Erie.

Maine,--frequent in the southern corner of York county; New Hampshire,--common toward the coast and along the lower Merrimac valley; abundant on hills near the Connecticut river, but only occasional above Bellows Falls; Vermont,--Marsh Hill, Ferrisburgh (Brainerd); W. Castleton and Pownal (Eggleston); Massachusetts,--common eastward; along the Connecticut river valley and some of the tributary valleys more common than the shagbark; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--common.

South to the Gulf of Mexico; west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Indian territory, and Texas.

=Habit.=--A stately tree, 50-65 feet high, reaching in the Ohio basin a height of 120 feet; trunk 2-5 feet in diameter, gradually tapering, surmounted by a large, oblong, open, rounded, or pyramidal head, often of great beauty.