Part 25

=Fruit=.—Round-oval, nearly smooth, 1-2 inches in diameter; husk thick, splitting freely to the base; nut 4-angled, with a thick or thin wall; kernel sweet and edible.

=Bark=.—Gray; on old trunks very rough, separating into long loose strips which give the trunk its characteristic shaggy appearance.

=Wood=.—Hard, heavy, tough, strong, close-grained, pliable, light brown with nearly white sapwood.

=Range=.—Southern Canada and Minnesota south to Florida and Texas.

=Distribution in West Virginia=.—A common tree except on the highest mountains. Reported as not plentiful in Wetzel, Roane, Jackson and Summers counties.

=Habitat=.—Thrives best in rich, damp soils, common along streams and on moist hillsides.

=Notes=.—The Shellbark Hickory furnishes much of the valuable wood used where strength and toughness are required. The tree is known best to most people on account of its excellent nuts. It can be profitably grown from seed.

BIG SHELL-BARK HICKORY

=Carya laciniosa=, (Michx. f.) Loud.

=Form=.—Height 60-100 feet, diameter 1-2 feet. Similar to that of the smaller shell-bark.

=Leaves=.—Alternate, compound; leaflets usually 7, sharp-pointed, serrate, dark green and smooth above, paler and covered with soft hairs beneath.

=Flowers=.—Very similar to those of the smaller shell-bark, previously described.

=Fruit=.—Ovoid, with four shallow creases above the middle, 1½-2½ inches in diameter, thick, smooth husk, splitting to the base; nut large, thick-shelled and angled; kernel sweet and edible.

=Bark=.—About the same as that of the smaller shell-bark hickory.

=Wood=.—The wood of this species can hardly be distinguished from that of the shell-bark hickory.

=Range=.—Central New York and Southern Michigan to North Carolina and Arkansas.

=Distribution in West Virginia=.—Not common, found principally near the Ohio River from some distance north of Parkersburg to Kenova. Reported from Harrison, Upshur and Monongalia counties, where possibly the trees have sprung from artificially planted seeds.

=Habitat=.—Rich, damp bottom lands and coves near rivers.

=Notes=.—Too rare to be an important tree in West Virginia. The wood is equal to the best of other species of hickory, but the nuts are rendered less valuable on account of the thickness of their shells.

MOCKERNUT HICKORY

=Carya alba=, (L.) K. Koch.

=Form=.—Height 50-80 feet, diameter 1-2½ feet; trunk in the woods straight and free from limbs for about half its length; crown round or oblong, open.

=Leaves=.—Alternate, compound, 8-12 inches long; leaflets 5-7, of varying lengths; oblong to ovate-lanceolate, serrate, lustrous yellow-green above, paler and pubescent beneath; petioles pubescent.

=Flowers=.—May, with the leaves; monoecious; staminate flowers in pendulous green catkins; the pistillate in 2-5-flowered spikes.

=Fruit=.—Ovoid, 1½-2 inches long; husk thick, splitting nearly to the base; nut indistinctly angled with very hard thick shell and small edible kernel.

=Bark=.—Gray, tight, rough but not shaggy.

=Wood=.—Heavy, hard, strong, tough, close-grained, elastic, brown with white sapwood.

=Range=.—Massachusetts and Ontario to Nebraska, Florida and Texas.