Fig. 169
Leaves12′—20′ long, with slender glabrous or pubescent petioles, and 9—17 lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate more or less falcate long-pointed coarsely often doubly serrate leafletsrounded or cuneate at the unequal base; sessile, except the terminal leaflet, or short-stalked, dark yellow-green and glabrous or pilose above, and pale and glabrous or pubescent below, 4′—8′ long, 1′—3′ wide, with a narrow yellow midrib and conspicuous veins.Flowers: staminate in slender puberulous clustered aments 3′—5′ long, from buds formed in the axils of leaves of the previous year or occasionally on shoots of the year, sessile or short-stalked, light yellow-green and hirsute on the outer surface, with broadly ovate acute lobes rather shorter than the oblong or obovate bract; stamens 5′ or 6′; anthers yellow, slightly villose; pistillate in few or many flowered spikes, oblong, narrowed at the ends, slightly 4-angled and coated with yellow scurfy pubescence.Fruitin clusters of 3—11, pointed at apex, rounded at the narrowed base, 4-winged and angled, 1′—2½′ long, ½′—1′ broad, dark brown and more or less thickly covered with yellow scales, with a thin, brittle husk splitting at maturity nearly to the base and often persistent on the branch during the winter after the discharge of the nut;nutovoid to ellipsoidal, nearly cylindric or slightly 4-angled toward the pointed apex, rounded and usually apiculate at base, bright reddish brown, with irregular black markings with a thin shell and papery partitions;seedsweet, red-brown, its nearly flat lobes grooved from near the base to the apex by 2 deep longitudinal grooves.
A tree, 100°—180° high, with a tall massive trunk occasionally 6° or 7° in diameter above its enlarged and buttressed base, stout slightly spreading branches forming in the forest a narrow symmetrical and inversely pyramidal head, or with abundant room a broad round-topped crown, and branchlets at first slightly tinged with red and coated with loose pale tomentum, becoming glabrous or puberulous in their first winter, and marked by numerous oblong orange-colored lenticels and by large oblong concave leaf-scars with a broad thin membranaceous border surrounding the lower axillary bud.Winter-budsacute, compressed, covered with clusters of bright yellow articulate hairs and pale tomentum; terminal ½′ long; axillary ovoid, often stalked, especially the large upper bud.Bark1′—1½′ thick, light brown tinged with red, and deeply and irregularly divided into narrow forked ridges broken on the surface into thick appressed scales.Woodheavy, hard, not strong, brittle, coarse-grained, light brown tinged with red, with thin light brown sapwood; less valuable than that of most Hickories, and used chiefly for fuel, and occasionally in the manufacture of wagons and agricultural implements. The nuts, which vary in size and shape and in the thickness of their shells and in the quality of the kernels, are an important article of commerce.
Distribution.Low rich ground in the neighborhood of streams; in the valley of the Mississippi River, Iowa (Clinton and Muscatine Counties), southern Illinois, southwesternIndiana (Sullivan and Spencer Counties), western Kentucky and Tennessee, western Mississippi and Louisiana, extreme western and southwestern Missouri (Jackson County southward, common only on the Marias de Cygne River), eastern Kansas to Kickapoo Island in the Missouri River near Fort Leavenworth, Oklahoma to the valley of the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River (near Alva, Woods County) and to creek valleys near Cache, Comanche County (G. W. Stevens), through Arkansas; and in Texas to the valley of the Devil’s River and to that of Warder’s Creek, Hardiman County; reappearing on the mountains of Mexico; most abundant and of its largest size in southern Arkansas and eastern Texas.
Largely cultivated in the Southern States, in many selected varieties, for its valuable nuts.
Fig. 170
Leaves10′—12′ long, with slender petioles, and 7—13 lanceolate acuminate finely serrate leaflets, hoary-tomentose when they unfold, and more or less villose in the autumn, thin and firm, dark yellow-green and nearly glabrous above, pale yellow-green and puberulous below, 3′—5′ long, about 1½′ wide, the terminal leaflet gradually narrowed to the acute base and short-stalked, the lateral often falcate, unsymmetrical at the base, subsessile or short-stalked.Flowers: staminate in villose aments 2′—3′ long, light yellow-green and villose on the outer surface, with oblong-ovate rounded lobes; pistillate in few fruited spikes, oblong, slightly 4-angled, villose.Fruitoblong or oblong-obovoid, apiculate at apex, slightly 4-winged at base, dark brown, more or less covered with yellow scales, 1½′—2′ long, with a thin husk;nutoblong-ovoid or oblong-obovoid, compressed, acute at the ends, short-pointed at apex, apiculate at base, obscurely 4-angled, bright red-brown, rough and pitted, with a thin brittle shell, thin papery walls, and a low basal ventral partition;seedvery bitter, bright red-brown, flattened, its lobes rounded and slightly divided at apex, longitudinally grooved and deeply penetrated on the outer face by the prominent reticulated folds of the inner surface of the shell of the nut.
A tree, sometimes 100° high on the bottoms of the Brazos River, with a tall straight trunk 3° in diameter, and ascending branches, or on the borders of prairies in low wet woods usually 15°—25° tall, with a short trunk 8′—10′ in diameter, small spreading branches forming a narrow round-topped head, and slender branchlets coated at first with thick hoary tomentum sometimes persistent until the autumn, bright red-brown and marked by occasional large pale lenticels during their first winter and by the large concave obcordate leaf-scars nearly surrounding the lowest axillary bud, becoming darker in their second season and dark or light gray-brown in their third year.Winter-budscovered with lightyellow articulate hairs; the terminal oblong, acute, or acuminate, somewhat compressed, about ¼′ long, and rather longer than the upper lateral bud.Bark½′—¾′ thick, light reddish brown, and roughened by closely appressed variously shaped plate-like scales.Woodclose-grained, tough and strong, light red-brown, with pale brown sapwood.
Distribution.Bottom-lands and low wet woods; valley of the lower Brazos River, Texas; near Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, and Laurel Hill, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana; near Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi; valley of the Arkansas River (Arkansas Post, Arkansas County, and Van Buren, Crawford County), Arkansas.
Fig. 171
Leaves6′—10′ long, with slender pubescent or hirsute petioles, and 7—9 lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate or obovate long-pointed sessile leaflets coarsely serrate except at the equally or unequally cuneate or subcordate base, thin and firm, dark yellow-green and glabrous above, lighter and pubescent below, especially along the midrib, 4′—6′ long, ¾′—1¼′ wide, or occasionally 2′—4′ wide (var.latifoliaSarg.).Flowers: staminate in slightly pubescent aments, 3′—4′ long, coated with rufous hairs like its ovate acute bract; stamens 4, with yellow anthers deeply emarginate and villose at apex; pistillate in 1 or 2-flowered spikes, slightly 4-angled, covered with yellow scurfy tomentum.Fruitcylindric or slightly compressed, ¾′—1½′ long, obovoid to subglobose, or oblong and acute at apex (var.elongataAshe), 4-winged from the apex to about the middle, with a thin puberulous husk, more or less thickly coated with small yellow scales;nutovoid or oblong, often broader than long, compressed and marked at base with dark lines along the sutures and alternate with them, depressed or obcordate, and abruptly contracted into a long or short point at apex, gray tinged with red or light reddish brown, with a thin brittle shell;seedbright reddish brown, very bitter, much compressed, deeply rugose, with irregular cross-folds.
A tree, often 100° high, with a tall straight trunk 2°—3° in diameter, stout spreading branches forming a broad handsome head, and slender branchlets marked by oblong pale lenticels, bright green and covered more or less thickly with rusty hairs when they first appear, reddish brown and glabrous or puberulous during their first summer, reddish brown and lustrous during the winter and ultimately light gray, with small elevated obscurely 3-lobed obcordate leaf-scars.Winter-budscompressed, scurfy pubescent, bright yellow; terminal ⅓′—¾′ long, oblique at apex, with 2 pairs of scales; lateral 2-angled, often stalked, ⅛′—¼′ long, with ovate pointed slightly accrescent scales keeled on the back.Bark⅓′—¾′ thick, light brown tinged with red, and broken into thin plate-like scales separatingon the surface into small thin flakes.Woodheavy, very hard, strong, tough, close-grained, dark brown, with thick light brown or often nearly white sapwood; largely used for hoops and ox-yokes, and for fuel.
Distribution.Low wet woods near the borders of streams and swamps or on high rolling uplands often remote from streams, southern Maine to Quebec and Ontario, the northern shores of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, northern Minnesota, southeastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, and southward to northwestern Florida, Dallas County, Alabama, and eastern Texas; generally distributed, but not very abundant in all the central states east and west of the Appalachian Mountains; ranging farther north than the other species, and growing to its largest size on the bottom-lands of the lower Ohio basin; the common Hickory of Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas.
A natural hybrid, ×C. BrowniiSarg. ofC. cordiformiswithC. pecan, with characters intermediate between those of its supposed parents, occurs on bottom-land of the Arkansas River near Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas. Probably of the same parentage is the so-called Galloway Nut found in Hamilton County, Ohio. Another hybrid, ×C. Browniivar.variansSarg., probably of the same parentage also, occurs near Van Buren. ×C. LaneyiSarg., a natural hybrid evidently ofC. cordiformiswithC. ovata, has been found in Rochester, New York, and trees considered varieties of the same hybrid, var.chateaugayensisSarg., occur near the mouth of the Chateaugay River, Province of Quebec, and at Summertown, Ontario.
Fig. 172
Leaves9′—15′ long, with slender dark red puberulous or tomentose petioles, and 7—13 ovate-lanceolate long-pointed falcate leaflets symmetrical and rounded or cuneate and unsymmetrical and oblique at base, finely or coarsely serrate, sessile or stalked, 3′—5′ long, ½′—1½′ wide, covered with yellow glandular dots, thin, dark green above, brown and lustrous or tomentose on the lower surface, especially on the slender midrib and primary veins, the terminal leaflet more or less decurrent by its wedge-shaped base on a slender stalk or rarely nearly sessile.Flowers: staminate in solitary or fascicled hirsute aments 2½′—3′ long, covered like their bract with yellow glandular pubescence; stamens 6, with yellow puberulous anthers; pistillate in several flowered spikes, oblong, slightly flattened, 4-angled, glandular-pubescent.Fruitoften in 3 or 4-fruited clusters, much compressed, usually broadest above the middle, rounded at the slightly narrowed base, rounded or abruptly narrowed at apex, conspicuously 4-winged, dark brown or nearly black, coveredmore or less thickly with bright yellow-scales, 1½′ long, 1′—1¼′ wide, with a thin brittle husk splitting tardily and usually only to the middle;nutflattened, slightly obovoid, nearly as broad as long, rounded and abruptly short-pointed at apex, rounded at the narrow base, 4-angled and ridged, dark reddish brown, and longitudinally and very irregularly wrinkled, with a thin shell;seedoblong, compressed, dark brown, irregularly and usually longitudinally furrowed, very bitter.
A tree, occasionally 80°—100° high, with a trunk rarely exceeding 2° in diameter, slender upright branches forming a narrow head, and slender dark reddish brown or ashy gray lustrous branchlets marked by numerous pale lenticels, at first slightly glandular and coated with loose pale tomentum, glabrous or puberulous during the summer, and marked during the winter by small nearly oval or obscurely 3-lobed slightly elevated leaf-scars, growing dark red-brown and ultimately gray.Winter-budsslightly flattened, acute, dark reddish brown, covered with caducous yellow scales; terminal ⅛′—¼′ long, often villose; axillary much smaller, frequently nearly sessile, often solitary.Bark½′—⅔′ thick, separating freely into long loose plate-like light brown scales tinged with red.Woodheavy, strong, close-grained, rather brittle, dark brown, with thick light-colored or often nearly white sapwood; occasionally used for fencing and fuel.
Distribution.River swamps often inundated during a considerable part of the year from southeastern Virginia southward through the coast regions to the shores of Indian River and the valley of the Suwanee River, Florida, through the maritime portions of the Gulf states to the valley of the Brazos River, Texas, and northward through western Louisiana to southeastern Missouri, and to northeastern Louisiana, western Mississippi, and the valley of the lower Wabash River, Illinois; passing into the var.australisSarg. with narrower leaflets, smaller ellipsoidal fruit, pale red-brown nuts without longitudinal wrinkles, and with close not scaly bark of the trunk. A large tree in dry sandy soil; high banks of the St. John’s River, near San Mateo, Putnam County, near Jupiter, Palm Beach County, banks of the Caloosahatchie River at Alma, Lee County, and Old Town, Lafayette County, Florida; near Marshall, Harrison County, Texas.
Fig. 173
Leaves7′—14′ long, with slender terete scurfy-pubescent petioles, and 7—9, occasionally 5, ovate-lanceolate to broadly obovate acute leaflets usually equally or sometimes unequally cuneate or rounded at the narrow base, coarsely serrate, short-stalked or nearly sessile, thin and firm, dark green above, more or less pubescent or nearly glabrous and silvery white and very lustrous below, 4′—5′ long, 1′—1½′ wide, with a pale scurfy pubescentmidrib; changing late in the season to bright golden-bronze color and then very conspicuous.Flowers: staminate in aments 3′—4′ long and coated like the ovate-oblong acute bract and calyx of the flower with dark brown scurfy pubescence; stamens 6, with yellow anthers; pistillate oblong, narrowed at the ends, slightly 4-angled, covered with thick brown scurfy pubescence.Fruitusually solitary, ellipsoidal or slightly obovoid, 4-ridged to the base, with broad thick ridges, 1½′ long, coated with yellow-brown scurfy pubescence, the husk not more than1/32′ thick, splitting nearly to the base;nutellipsoidal or sometimes slightly obovoid, 1′ long, ¾′ broad, rounded and apiculate at the ends, smooth, dark reddish brown, and marked by longitudinal broken bands of small gray spots covering the entire surface at the ends with a thick hard and bony shell, a thick partition, and a low thin dorsal division;seedsweet, small, dark brown; the lobes deeply 2-lobed at apex.
A tree, 80°—100° high, with a tall straight trunk often 2° in diameter, stout slightly spreading branches forming a comparatively narrow rather open head, and slender branchlets coated with lustrous golden or brown scales often persistent until the second year, light brown or ashy gray during their first winter, ultimately dark reddish brown, and marked by small scattered pale lenticels and small oval emarginate elevated leaf-scars.Winter-budscovered with thick brown scurvy pubescence; terminal ⅛′—¼′ long, ovoid, rather obtuse; axillary much smaller, acute, slightly flattened, sessile or short-stalked, often solitary.Bark½′—¾′ thick, dark brown tinged with red, and broken irregularly into small thin appressed scales.Woodhard, very strong, tough, close-grained, light brown, with thick lighter colored sapwood of 80—90 layers of annual growth.
Distribution.Banks of rivers and swamps in rich moist soil or rarely on higher ground; eastern South Carolina, central Alabama, eastern, and northwestern (bluffs of the Yazoo River at Yazoo City) Mississippi, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, southeastern Oklahoma to Clear Boggy Creek, western Choctaw County, and in Beaumont County, Texas; on the mountains of northeastern Mexico; rare and local; abundant only in southern Arkansas.
Fig. 174
Leaves8′—14′ long, with stout glabrous or pubescent petioles, and 5 or rarely 7 ovate to ovate-lanceolate or obovate leaflets, acuminate or rarely rounded at apex, more or less thickly ciliate on the margins, finely serrate except toward the usually cuneate base, dark yellow-green and glabrous above, paler, glabrous and lustrous or puberulous below, the terminal leaflet decurrent on a slender stalk, 5′—7′ long, 2′—3′ wide, rather larger than the sessile or short-stalked upper leaflets, and two or three times as large as those of the lowestpair.Flowers: staminate opening after the leaves have grown nearly to their full size, in slender light green glandular-hirsute aments 4′—5′ long, glandular-hirsute, their elongated ovate-lanceolate acute bract two or three times as long as the ovate concave rounded or acute calyx-lobes; stamens 4, with yellow or red anthers hirsute above the middle; pistillate in 2—5-flowered spikes, ⅓′ long, clothed with rusty tomentum.Fruitsolitary or in pairs, subglobose, rather longer than broad or slightly obovoid, depressed at apex, dark reddish brown or nearly black at maturity, roughened by small pale lenticels, glabrous or pilose, 1′—2½′ long, the husk, ⅛′—½′ thick, splitting freely to the base;nutoblong, nearly twice as long as broad, or obovoid and broader than long, compressed, prominently or obscurely 4-ridged and angled, acute and gradually or abruptly narrowed or rounded or nearly truncate at apex, gradually narrowed and rounded at base, pale or nearly white, with a usually thin shell;seedlight brown, lustrous, sweet, with an aromatic flavor.
A tree, 70°—90° and occasionally 120° high, with a tall straight trunk 3°—4° in diameter, in the forest often free of branches for 50°—60° above the ground and then divided into a few small limbs forming a narrow head, or with more space sometimes dividing near the ground or at half the height of the tree into stout slightly spreading limbs, forming a narrow inversely conic round-topped head of more or less pendulous branches, and stout branchlets marked with oblong pale lenticels, covered at first with caducous brown scurf and coated with pale glandular pubescence, soon bright reddish brown, and lustrous, glabrous or pubescent, growing dark gray in their second year and ultimately light gray, and marked by pale and slightly elevated ovate semiorbicular or obscurely 3-lobed leaf-scars.Winter-buds: terminal broadly ovoid, rather obtuse, ½′—¾′ long, ⅓′—½′ broad, the 3 or 4 outer scales nearly triangular, acute, dark brown, pubescent and hirsute on the outer surface, the exterior scales often abruptly narrowed into long rigid points and deciduous before the unfolding of the leaves, the inner scales lustrous, covered with resinous glands, yellow-green often tinged with red, oblong-obovate, pointed, becoming 2½′—3′ long and ½′ broad, usually persistent until after the fall of the staminate aments; axillary buds coated at first with thick white tomentum, becoming ⅓′—½′ long when fully grown.Barklight gray, ¾′—1′ thick, separating in thick plates often a foot or more long and 6′—8′ wide, and more or less closely attached to the trunk by the middle, giving it the shaggy appearance to which this tree owes its common name.Woodheavy, very hard and strong, tough, close-grained, flexible, light brown, with thin nearly white sapwood; largely used in the manufacture of agricultural implements, carriages, wagons, and for axe-handles, baskets, and fuel. The nut is the common Hickory nut of commerce.
Distribution.Low hills and the neighborhood of streams and swamps in rich deep moderately moist soil; southern Maine to the valley of the St. Lawrence River near Montreal, along the northern shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario to central Michigan, central Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, eastern Iowa and southeastern Nebraska, and southward to western Florida, northern Alabama and Mississippi, and to eastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, and eastern Texas; ranging further north than other Hickories with the exception ofC. cordiformis; and in the Carolinas ascending to 3000° above the sea in valleys on the western slope of the Blue Ridge. Variable in the size and shape of the nut and in the character and amount of pubescence on the leaves and branchlets. These varieties are distinguished: var.NuttalliiSarg., with nuts rounded, obcordate or rarely pointed at apex, rounded or abruptly pointed at base, much compressed, and only about ⅗′ long and ⅖′—½′ broad; not rare and widely distributed northward. Var.complanataSarg., with oblong-obovoid fruit and broadly obovoid much compressed slightly angled nuts cuneate at base and rounded, truncate or slightly obcordate at apex; a single tree on the Drushel Farm near Mt. Hope, Holmes County, Ohio. Var.ellipsoidalisSarg., with ellipsoidal much compressed nuts abruptly long-pointed at apex, and slender reddish branchlets; near Hannibal, Marion County, and Oakwood, Rolles County, northeastern Missouri, and Indian River, Lewis County, and near Rochester, Munroe County, New York. Var.pubescensSarg., differing in the dense pubescence of pale fascicled hairs on the young branchlets, and on the petioles, rachis and under surface of the leaflets; bottoms of theSavannah River, Calhoun Falls, Abbeville County, South Carolina, bottom of Little River, Walker County, Georgia, Chattanooga Creek, Hamilton County, Tennessee, Valley Head, DeKalb County, Alabama, and Columbus, Lowndes County, Starkville, Oktibbeha County, and Brookville, Noxubee County, Mississippi. More distinct is
Fig. 175
Leaves7′—9′ long, with slender glabrous or puberulous petioles and 5 lanceolate to slightly oblanceolate acuminate finely serrate leaflets glabrous except on the under side of the midrib, the terminal leaflet 4′—7′ long and 1′—1½′ wide, the lateral sessile, unsymmetrical at base, those of the upper pair often larger than the terminal leaflet, those of the lower pair 2′—2½′ long and 1′—1¼′ wide.Flowersas in the species.Fruitobovoid, usually rounded at apex, compressed, about 1¼′ long, the husk splitting freely to the base, ⅙′—⅕′ in thickness;nutmuch compressed, rounded at the ends, prominently angled.
A large tree with bark separating in long loose plates, and slender reddish glabrous or puberulous branchlets.
Distribution.Near Rochester, Munroe County, New York; common; near Kingston, Ontario, and westward through Ohio and Indiana; at Keosauqua, Van Buren County, Iowa, and near Myers, Osage County, Oklahoma.
Fig. 176
Leaves4′—8′ long, with slender glabrous petioles, and usually 5 but occasionally 3 lanceolate long-pointed leaflets gradually narrowed at the acuminate symmetrical or unsymmetrical base, coarsely serrate, ciliate with long white hairs as the leaves unfold, thin, dark green above, pale yellow-green and lustrous below, the upper leaflets 3′—4′ long, 1′—1½′ wide, and about twice as large as those of the lower pair, turning dull brown or yellow-brown some time before falling.Flowers: staminate in slightly villose aments, glandular-hirsute on the outer surface, with linear elongated acuminate villose bracts; stamens 4; anthers puberulous; pistillate usually in 2-flowered spikes, oblong and covered with clustered golden hairs, their bract linear and ciliate on the margins.Fruitbroader than high, or short-oblong, slightly depressed at apex, ¾′—1½′ wide, dark red-brown, roughened by small pale lenticels, the husk ⅛′—⅜′ thick, splitting freely almost to the base;nutovoid, compressed, prominently 4-angled, acute at ends, nearly white or pale brown, with a thin shell;seedlight brown, sweet.
A tree, on moist bottom-lands sometimes 80° tall, with a trunk 2°—3° in diameter, andshort small branches forming a narrow oblong head, or on dry hillsides usually not more than 20°—30° tall, with a trunk generally not exceeding a foot in diameter, and slender red-brown branchlets marked by numerous small pale lenticels and by the small low truncate or slightly obcordate leaf-scars, becoming ultimately dull gray-brown.Winter-buds: terminal ovoid, gradually narrowed to the obtuse apex, about ¼′ long, with glabrous bright red-brown and lustrous acute and apiculate strongly keeled spreading outer scales, the inner scales becoming when fully grown bright yellow, long-pointed, and sometimes 2′ long; axillary buds oblong, obtuse, not more than1/16′ long.Barklight gray, ¼′—¾′ thick, separating freely into thick plates often a foot or more long, 3′ or 4′ wide, and long-persistent, giving to the trunk the shaggy appearance of the northern Shagbark Hickory.Woodhard, strong, very tough, light reddish brown, with thin nearly white sapwood.
Distribution.Dry limestone hills, river-bottoms and low flat often inundated woods, frequently in clay soil; central North Carolina to northern Georgia, and through western North Carolina to eastern Tennessee, eastern Mississippi, and in Cullman and Dallas Counties, Alabama.
Fig. 177
Leaves15′—22′ long, with stout glabrous or pubescent petioles often persistent on the branches during the winter, and 5—9, usually 7, ovate to oblong-lanceolate or broadly obovate leaflets, the upper 5′—9′ long and 3′—5′ wide and generally two or three times as large as those of the lowest pair, usually equilateral and acuminate at apex, equally or unequally cuneate or rounded at the often oblique base, finely serrate, sessile or short-stalked, dark green and lustrous above, pale yellow-green or bronzy brown and covered with soft pubescence below.Flowers: staminate in aments 5′—8′ long, glabrous or covered with rufous scurfy tomentum, with linear-lanceolate acute bracts two or three times as long as the broad rounded calyx-lobes; anthers hirsute, yellow, more or less deeply emarginate; pistillate in 2—5-flowered spikes, oblong-ovoid, about twice as long as broad, slightly angled, clothed with pale tomentum, their linear bracts acute much longer than the nearly triangular bractlets and calyx-lobe.Fruitsolitary or in pairs, ellipsoidal, ovoid or subglobose, depressed at apex, roughened with minute orange-colored lenticels, downy or glabrous, light orange-colored or dark chestnut-brown at maturity, 1¾′—2½′ long and 1¼′—2′ broad, with a hard woody husk pale and marked on the inside with dark delicate veins, and ¼′—⅓′ thick;nutellipsoidal or slightly obovoid, longer than broad or sometimes broader than long, flattened and rounded at the ends, or gradually narrowed and rounded at baseand occasionally acuminate at apex, more or less compressed, prominently 4-ridged and angled or often 6-ridged, furnished at base with a stout long point, light yellow to reddish brown, 1¼′—2½′ long and 1½′—1¾′ wide, with a hard bony shell sometimes ¼′ thick;seedlight chestnut-brown, very sweet.
A tree, occasionally 120° high, with a straight slender trunk often free of branches for more than half its height and rarely exceeding 3° in diameter, comparatively small spreading branches forming a narrow oblong head, and stout dark or light orange-colored branchlets at first pilose or covered with pale or rufous pubescence or tomentum, roughened by scattered elevated long pale lenticels, orange-brown and glabrous or puberulous during their first winter, and marked by oblong 3-lobed emarginate leaf-scars.Winter-buds: terminal ovoid, rather obtuse, sometimes 1′ long and ⅔′ wide, and three or four times as large as the axillary buds, usually covered by 11 or 12 scales, the outer dark brown, puberulous, generally keeled, with a long point at apex, the inner scales obovate, pointed or rounded at apex, light green tinged with red, or bright red or yellow, covered with silky pubescence on the outer face, slightly resinous, becoming 2′—3′ long and 1′ wide.Bark1′—2′ thick, light gray, separating into broad thick plates frequently 3°—4° long, sometimes remaining for many years hanging on the trunk.Woodheavy, very hard, strong and tough, close-grained, very flexible, dark brown, with comparatively thin nearly white sapwood. The large nuts are often sold in the markets of western cities and commercially are not often distinguished from those of the Shellbark Hickory.
Distribution.Rich bottom-lands usually inundated during several weeks of every year; central and western New York and southeastern Ontario, and westward through southern Ohio, southern Michigan, Indiana and Illinois to southeastern Iowa and southeastern Nebraska, through Missouri and Arkansas to southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma, and southward through eastern Pennsylvania to western West Virginia; in southeastern Tennessee; banks of the Alabama River, Dallas County, Alabama, and in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.
×Carya NussbaumeriiSarg. with leaves like those ofC. laciniosa, slender branchlets, and large fruit of the shape of that of the Pecan but without sutural wings and white or nearly white nuts, believed to be a hybrid of these species, has been found near Fayetteville, St. Clair County, Illinois, at Mt. Vernon, Posey County, Indiana, near Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa, and from the neighborhood of Rockville, Bates County, Missouri.
Trees intermediate in character betweenC. laciniosaandC. ovatagrowing on the bottoms of the Genessee River at Golah, Munroe County, New York, and believed to be hybrids of these species, are ×C. DunbariiSarg.
Fig. 178
Leavesglandular, resinous, fragrant, 8′—12′ long, with petioles covered like the rachis and the under surface of the leaflets with fascicled hairs, and 5 or 7 oblong-lanceolate to obovate-lanceolate leaflets gradually or abruptly acuminate, mostly equilateral, equally or unequally rounded or cuneate at base, minutely or coarsely serrate, sessile or short-stalked, dark yellow-green and rather lustrous above, lustrous, paler or light orange-colored or brown on the lower surface, the upper leaflets 5′—8′ long and 3′—5′ wide, and two or three times as large as those of the lowest pair.Flowers: staminate in aments 4′—5′ long, with slender light green stems coated with fascicled hairs, pale yellow-green, scurfy-pubescent, with elongated ovate-lanceolate bracts ending in tufts of long pale hairs, and three or four times as long as the calyx-lobes; stamens 4, with oblong bright red hirsute anthers; pistillate in crowded 2—5-flowered spikes, slightly contracted above the middle, coated with pale tomentum, the bract ovate, acute, sometimes ¼′ long, about twice as long as the broadly ovate nearly triangular bractlets and calyx-lobes; stigmas dark red.Fruitellipsoidal or obovoid, gradually narrowed at the ends, acute at apex, abruptly contracted toward the base, rarely obovoid with a stipe-like base (var.ficoidesSarg.), or ovoid with a long acuminate apex (var.ovoideaSarg.), pilose or nearly glabrous, dark red-brown, 1½′—2′ long, with a husk about ⅛′ thick splitting to the middle or nearly to the base;nutnearly globose, ellipsoidal, obovoid-oblong or ovoid, narrowed at ends, rounded at base, acute, and sometimes attenuated and long-pointed at apex, much or only slightly compressed, obscurely or prominently 4-ridged, light reddish brown, becoming darker and sometimes red with age, with a very thick hard shell and partitions; in drying often cracking transversely;seedsmall, sweet, dark brown, and lustrous.
A tree, rarely 100° high, usually much smaller, with a tall trunk occasionally 3° in diameter, comparatively small spreading branches forming a narrow or often a broad round-topped head of upright rigid or of gracefully pendulous branches, and stout branchlets clothed at first with pale fascicled hairs, rather bright brown, nearly glabrous or more or less pubescent, and marked by conspicuous pale lenticels during their first season, becoming light or dark gray, with pale emarginate leaf-scars almost equally lobed, or elongated with the lowest lobe two or three times as long as the others.Winter-buds: terminal broadly ovoid, acute or obtuse, ½′—¾′ long, two or three times as large as the axillary buds, the three or four outer bud-scales ovate, acute, often keeled and apiculate, thick and firm, dark reddish brown and pilose, usually deciduous late in the autumn, the inner scalesovate, rounded or acute and short-pointed at apex, light green covered with soft silky pubescence on the outer, and often bright red and pilose on the inner surface, becoming 1′—1½′ long and ½′ broad.Bark½′—¾′ thick, close, slightly ridged by shallow irregular interrupted fissures and covered by dark gray closely appressed scales.Woodvery heavy, hard, tough, strong, close-grained, flexible, rich dark brown, with thick nearly white sapwood; used for the same purposes as that of the Shellbark Hickory.
Distribution.Eastern Massachusetts southward to Lake County, Florida, and eastern Texas, and through Ohio, southwestern Ontario, southern Michigan, Illinois and Indiana to southeastern Iowa, and through Missouri to eastern Oklahoma; comparatively rare at the north, growing on dry slopes and ridges and less commonly on alluvial bottom-lands; absent from eastern Canada, northern and western New England, and New York except in the neighborhood of the coast; the most abundant and generally distributed Hickory-tree of the southern states, growing to its largest size in the basin of the lower Ohio River and in Missouri and Arkansas; commonly in southern Arkansas and eastern Texas, and occasionally in other southern states represented by var.subcoriaceaSarg., differing in its larger, thicker, more pubescent leaflets, more prominently angled fruit with a thicker husk, larger nuts, and in its longer winter-buds often ⅘′ long and ¾′ in diameter.
×Carya SchneckiiSarg., believed to be a hybrid ofC. albaandC. pecan, has been found at Lawrenceville, Lawrence County, Illinois, and near Muscatine, Muscatine County, Iowa.
Fig. 179
Leaves12′—14′ long, with slender petioles and rachis slightly or densely pubescent with fascicled hairs, becoming glabrous or nearly glabrous, and 7 or rarely 5 thin finely serrate leaflets, long-pointed at apex, and gradually narrowed, cuneate and unsymmetrical at base, at first hoary tomentose below and pubescent above, becoming dark green and lustrous on the upper surface and pale and slightly pubescent on the lower surface, especially on the stout midrib, the terminal oblong-obovate with a stalk ⅕′—⅗′ in length, or nearly sessile, of the same shape and often smaller than the nearly sessile upper leaflets, 4′—5′ long and 2′—2½′ wide, and much larger than the lanceolate lower leaflets.Flowers: staminate opening after the leaves have grown nearly to their full size, in slender puberulous aments4′—4½′ long; bract of the flower ovate, lanceolate, ciliate on the margins with long white hairs mixed with stipitate glands, a third longer than the ciliate calyx-lobes; stamens 4, anthers red, covered with long rigid white hairs; pistillate in short spikes, their involucre and bracts densely clothed with white hairs.Fruitbroadly obovoid, smooth, glabrous or puberulous, covered with scattered white scales, 1½′—1¾′ long, about 1¼′ in diameter, the husk ⅕′ to nearly ¼′ thick, opening freely to the base usually only by two sutures;nutellipsoidal or slightly obovoid, little compressed, rounded at the ends, tinged with red, with a shell ⅙′—⅕′ thick;seedsmall and sweet.
A tree 60°—75° tall with a trunk occasionally 3° in diameter, stout often pendulous branches forming a narrow round-topped head, and slender reddish brown lustrous branchlets puberulous or pubescent when they first appear, becoming glabrous or nearly glabrous by the end of their first season.Winter-buds: terminal acute, about ½′ long, the outer scales pubescent, the inner covered with appressed pale hairs and ciliate on the margins; axillary buds ovoid and rounded at apex or subglobose.Barkclose, pale, only slightly ridged.
Distribution.Low wet woods; Louisiana to southern Arkansas, and in northwestern Mississippi (bluffs, Yazoo County); most abundant in western Louisiana from the neighborhood of the coast to the valley of Red River, and in Tangipahoa Parish east of the Mississippi River.
Passing into var.callicomaSarg., differing in the thinner husk of the fruit and in the bright red color of the unfolding leaves.
Distribution.Low wet woods; valley of the Calcasieu River (near Lake Charles), western Louisiana to that of the Neches River (near Beaumont), Texas; in western and southern Mississippi (Warren, Adams, Hinds, Lafayette, Copiah, Lowndes and Oktibbeha Counties).
Fig. 180
Leaves7′—15′ long, with slender petioles and rachis covered, like the under side of the midrib, with prominent persistent clusters of fascicled hairs mixed with silvery scales, and usually 7, rarely 9, lanceolate or oblanceolate leaflets, the terminal rarely obovate, finely serrate, resinous, fragrant, acuminate and long-pointed at apex, cuneate or rounded and often unsymmetrical at base, covered in spring with small silvery peltate scales, and at maturity light green and lustrous above, pale and pubescent or puberulous below, the terminal short-stalked or nearly sessile, 4′—6′ long and 1′—2′ wide, and as large or slightly larger than the upper lateral leaflets, those of the lower pairs usually not more than 2′ long and½′ wide.Flowers: staminate in aments covered with fascicled hairs and silvery scales, 2½′—5′ long, puberulous and glandular on the outer surface, with linear acuminate bracts; stamens 4, anthers hirsute; pistillate usually solitary, oblong, covered with yellow scales, their bract ovate-lanceolate, ciliate on the margin.Fruitpubescent and covered with yellow scales, ellipsoidal to obovoid, broad-obovoid, subglobose to depressed-globose, and from ½′—1½′ in length, with a husk from ⅛′—⅙′ in thickness, splitting tardily to the base by 2 or 3 of the sutures, or occasionally remaining unopened until midwinter;nutwhite, rounded at the ends, or obcordate or obtusely pointed at apex, compressed, more or less prominently ridged nearly to the base, with a shell ⅛′—1/12′ thick;seedsmall and sweet.
A tree occasionally 90°—110° high, with a tall trunk 2½°—3° in diameter, usually not more than 30°—40° tall, with a trunk 12′—18′ in diameter, stout branches, the upper erect, the lower often pendulous, and slender red-brown glabrous or pubescent branchlets.Winter-budsacute or obtuse, reddish brown, puberulous and covered with silvery scales, the terminal ¼′ long with 6—9 scales and rather larger than the lateral buds usually covered with fewer scales.Barkof large trees grown in good soil pale and slightly ridged, that of trees on dry ridges, rough, deeply furrowed, dark gray and southward often nearly black.Woodbrown with nearly white sapwood; probably little used except as fuel.
Distribution.Sandy soil in the neighborhood of Cape May, New Jersey, in southern Delaware, and in the southern part of the Maryland peninsula; common in rich soil in Gloucester and James City Counties, Virginia, growing here to its largest size, and southward from southeast Virginia through the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina, ascending to altitudes of 2200° in the mountain valleys of these states; common in northern and central Georgia and southeastern Tennessee, occasionally reaching the Georgia coast and the southwestern part of that state; in western Florida, through northern and central Alabama to Dallas County, and through southern Mississippi to northeastern Louisiana (near Kentwood, Tangipahoa Parish); in Mississippi extending northward to the valley of the Yazoo River in Yazoo County; in northern Tennessee (Lexington, Henderson County); in Alabama the common Hickory on the dry gravelly and poor soils of the upland table-lands and ridges of the central part of the state.
Carya porcinaNutt.
Fig. 181
Leaves8′—12′ long, with slender glabrous petioles and rachis, and 5 or rarely 7 lanceolate or oblanceolate finely serrate leaflets acuminate at the ends, yellow-green and glabrous above, glabrous, or pubescent on the midrib below, the terminal leaflet sometimes obovate, 4′—4½′ long and 5′ or 6′ wide, and raised on a glabrous or sparingly pubescent stalk, ¼′—½′ in length, the lateral leaflets sessile, those of the upper pair about the size of the terminal leaflet, and two or three times larger than those of the lower pair.Flowers: staminate in short-stalked pubescent aments 2′—2½′ long, yellow-green, the bract villose, much longer than the calyx-lobes; stamens 4, anthers yellow, villose toward the apex; pistillate in few-flowered spikes, oblong, coated with hoary tomentum like the lanceolate acuminate bract.Fruitobovoid, compressed, rounded at apex, gradually narrowed below and often abruptly contracted into a stipe-like base, about 1′ long and ¾′ wide, with a husk from1/12′—⅛′ in thickness, opening late by one or two sutures or often remaining closed;nutobovoid, compressed, without ridges, rounded or slightly obcordate at apex, gradually narrowed and rounded below, with a hard thick shell;seedsmall and sweet.
A tree 60°—90° high, with a trunk 2°—2½° in diameter, with small spreading often drooping branches forming a tall narrow head, and slender glabrous reddish branchlets marked by pale lenticels.Winter-budsovoid, acute, light brown, glabrous, ⅓′—½′ long and ⅕′—¼′ in diameter, the inner scales covered with close pubescence.Barkclose, ridged, light gray.Woodheavy, hard, strong and tough, flexible, light or dark brown, with thick lighter-colored sapwood; used for the handles of tools and in the manufacture of wagons and agricultural implements, and largely for fuel.
Distribution.Hillsides and dry ridges; southwestern Vermont to western New York, southeastern Ontario, southern Indiana and southwestern Illinois, and southward to Delaware, the District of Columbia and eastern Virginia, and along the Appalachian Mountains to North Carolina; in northern, central and eastern Georgia, northern Alabama and eastern Mississippi.
The name “Pignut” usually applied to this tree and to the forms ofC. ovalisSarg., especially in the north, properly belongs toC. cordiformisSchn.
Passing into
Carya megacarpaSarg.