Leaves oblong-obovate to oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, acuminate and

short-pointed or acute at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate or

rounded at base, remotely and irregularly serrate usually only above the

middle, or rarely entire, when they unfold pale gray-green, glabrous or

villose, and often tinged with red on the upper surface and coated on

the lower with pale tomentum or pubescence, at maturity thick and firm,

dull green and glabrous or puberulous above, blue or silvery white and

covered with pale rufous pubescence below, especially along the midrib,

veins, and conspicuous reticulate veinlets, 1′—3′ long, ½′—1′ wide;

petioles slender, often pubescent, reddish, ¼′—½′ long; stipules

foliaceous, semicordate, glandular-dentate, sometimes nearly ½′ long on

vigorous shoots, deciduous. Flowers: aments terminal on short leafy

branchlets; scales ovate or oblong, rounded at apex, broader on the

staminate than on the pistillate plant, yellow below, rose color at

apex, villose with long pale silky hairs, persistent under the fruit;

staminate aments cylindric, obovoid, narrowed at base, densely flowered,

¾′—1′ long, ½′—1′ thick; pistillate aments oblong-cylindric, loosely

flowered, 1′—1¼′ long, ½′ thick; stamens 2, with free glabrous

filaments; ovary cylindric, villose; with long silky white hairs,

gradually narrowed at apex, with broad sessile entire or emarginate

spreading yellow stigmas; pedicel villose, about ¼′ in length, and about

as long as the scale. Fruit elongated-cylindric, gradually narrowed into

a long thin beak, and raised on a slender stalk sometimes ½′ long.

A bushy tree, occasionally 25° high, with a short trunk 6′—8′ in

diameter, stout ascending branches forming a broad round head, and

slender branchlets coated at first with hoary deciduous tomentum,

varying during their first winter from reddish purple to dark

orange-brown, marked by scattered raised lenticels and roughened by

conspicuous elevated leaf-scars, growing lighter-colored and reddish

brown in their second year; usually much smaller and often shrubby in

habit. Bark thin, reddish or olive-green or gray tinged with red, and

slightly divided by shallow fissures into appressed plate-like scales.

Winter-buds oblong, gradually narrowed and rounded at apex, full and

rounded on the back, bright light chestnut-brown, nearly ¼′ long.

Distribution. Borders of streams, swamps, and lakes, hillsides, open

woods and forest margins, usually in moist rich soil; valley of the St.

Lawrence River to the shores of Hudson’s Bay, the valley of the

Mackenzie River within the Arctic Circle, Cook Inlet, Alaska, and the

coast ranges of British Columbia, forming in the region west of Hudson’s

Bay almost impenetrable thickets, with twisted and often inclining

stems; common in all the northern states, ranging southward to

Pennsylvania and westward to Minnesota and through the Rocky Mountain

region from western Idaho and northern Montana to northern North Dakota,

eastern South Dakota, northeastern and central Iowa, and western

Nebraska, and southward through Colorado to northern Arizona; ascending

as a low shrub in Colorado to an altitude of 10,000°.

21. Salix discolor Muehl. Glaucous Willow.

[Illustration: Fig. 155]

Leaves lanceolate to elliptic, gradually narrowed at the ends, remotely

crenulate-serrate, as they unfold thin, light green often tinged with

red, pubescent above and coated with a pale tomentum below, at maturity

thick and firm, glabrous, conspicuously reticulate-venulose, bright

green above, glaucous or silvery white below, 3′—5′ long, ¾′—1½′ wide,

with a broad yellow midrib and slender arcuate primary veins; petioles

slender, ½′—1′ long; stipules foliaceous, semilunar, acute,

glandular-dentate, about ¼′ long, deciduous. Flowers: aments appearing

late in winter or in very early spring, erect, terminal on short

scale-bearing branchlets coated with thick white tomentum,

oblong-cylindric, about 1′ long and ⅔′ thick, the staminate soft and

silky before the flowers open and densely flowered; scales

oblong-obovate, dark reddish brown toward the apex, covered on the back

with long silky silvery white hairs; stamens 2, with elongated glabrous

filaments; ovary oblong-cylindric, narrowed above the middle, villose,

with a short distinct style and broad spreading entire stigmas; pedicel

glabrous, about twice the length of the scale. Fruit cylindric, more or

less contracted above the middle, long-pointed, light brown, coated with

pale pubescence.

A tree, rarely more than 25° high, with a trunk about 1° in diameter,

stout ascending branches forming an open round-topped head, and stout

branchlets marked by occasional orange-colored lenticels, dark reddish

purple and coated at first with pale deciduous pubescence; more often

shrubby, with numerous tall straggling stems. Winter-buds semiterete,

flattened and acute at the apex, about ⅜′ long, dark reddish purple and

lustrous. Bark ¼′ thick, light brown tinged with red, and divided by

shallow fissures into thin plate-like oblong scales. Wood light, soft,

close-grained, brown streaked with red, with lighter brown sapwood.

Distribution. Moist meadows and the banks of streams and lakes; Nova

Scotia to Manitoba, and southward to Delaware, southern Indiana and

Illinois, eastern and southwestern Iowa, the Black Hills of South

Dakota, and northeastern Missouri; common.

A form of _Salix discolor_ with more densely flowered and more silvery

pubescent aments is described as var. _eriocephala_ Schn. and a form

with loosely flowered aments with less tomentose fruits with longer

styles and with narrower leaves as var. _prinoides_ Schn.

22. Salix Scouleriana Barr. Black Willow.

_Salix Nuttallii_ Sarg.

[Illustration: Fig. 156]

Leaves oblong-obovate to elliptic, acute or abruptly acuminate with a

short or long-pointed apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate at the often

unsymmetrical base, entire or remotely and irregularly crenately

serrate, thin and firm, dark yellow-green and lustrous above, pale or

glaucous and glabrous or pilose below, 1¼′—4′ long, ½′—1½′ wide, with a

broad yellow pubescent midrib and slender veins forked and arcuate

within the slightly thickened and revolute margins and connected by

conspicuous reticulate veinlets; petioles slender, puberulous, ¼′—½′ in

length; stipules foliaceous, semilunar, glandular-serrate, ⅛′—¼′ long,

caducous. Flowers: aments appearing before the leaves, oblong-cylindric,

erect, nearly sessile on short tomentose scale-bearing branchlets, the

staminate about 1′ long and rather more than ½′ thick, the pistillate

1½′ long, about 5/12′ thick; scales oblong, narrowed at the ends,

dark-colored, covered with long white hairs, persistent under the fruit;

stamens 2, with free glabrous filaments; ovary cylindric, short-stalked,

with a distinct style and broad emarginate stigmas; pedicels less than

half the length of the scale, villose. Fruit oblong-ovoid, acuminate,

light reddish brown, pale pubescent, about ⅓′ long.

A tree, occasionally 30° high, with a short trunk rarely exceeding 1° in

diameter, slender pendulous branches forming a rather compact

round-topped shapely head, and stout branchlets marked by scattered

yellow lenticels, coated when they first appear with pale early

deciduous pubescence, becoming bright yellow or dark orange color, and

in their second year dark red-brown and much roughened by the

conspicuous leaf-scars; or more often a shrub. Winter-buds ovoid, acute,

nearly terete or slightly flattened, with narrow lateral wing-like

margins, light or dark orange color, glabrous or pilose at the base,

about ¼′ long. Bark thin, dark brown slightly tinged with red, and

divided into broad flat ridges. Wood light, soft, close-grained, light

brown tinged with red, with thick nearly white sapwood.

Distribution. Cook’s Inlet, coast of Alaska, and valley of the Yukon

River near Dawson southward through western British Columbia to northern

California, ranging eastward through Washington and northwestern Oregon

to northern Idaho and Montana.

From central California to San Bernardino County represented by the

variety _crassijulis_ Andr. (S. _brachystachys_ Benth.) with shorter and

broader obovate leaves rounded at apex, pubescent and tomentose

branchlets and larger pubescent winter-buds. A tree sometimes 70° high

with a trunk often 2½° in diameter.

On the high Sierra Nevada eastward to the eastern ranges of the Rocky

Mountains of Colorado and to northern New Mexico, northern Wyoming and

the Black Hills of South Dakota represented by the var. _flavescens_

Schn. A shrub or rarely a small tree with obovate rounded yellowish

leaves and branchlets.

23. Salix Hookeriana Barr.

[Illustration: Fig. 157]

Leaves oblong to oblong-obovate, acute or abruptly acuminate, or rarely

rounded and frequently apiculate at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate

or rounded at base, coarsely crenately serrate, especially those on

vigorous shoots, or entire, when they unfold villose with pale hairs, or

tomentose above and clothed below with silvery white tomentum, at

maturity thin and firm, bright yellow-green and lustrous, nearly

glabrous or tomentose on the upper surface, pale and glaucous and

tomentose or pubescent on the lower surface, especially along the midrib

and slender arcuate primary veins and conspicuous reticulate veinlets,

2′—6′ long, 1′—1½′ wide; petioles stout, tomentose, ¼′—⅓′ long. Flowers:

aments oblong-cylindric, erect, rather lax, often more or less curved,

about 1½′ long, on short tomentose scale-bearing branchlets, the

staminate ⅔′ thick and rather thicker than the pistillate; scales

oblong-obovate, yellow, coated with long pale hairs, the staminate

rounded above and rather shorter than the more acute scales of the

pistillate ament persistent under the fruit; stamens 2, with free

elongated glabrous filaments; ovary conic, glabrous, stalked, with a

slender stalk about one third as long as the scale, gradually narrowed

above, with a slender elongated bright red style and broad spreading

entire stigmas. Fruit oblong-cylindric, narrowed above, about ¼′ long.

A tree, occasionally 30° high, with a trunk about 1° in diameter, and

stout branchlets marked by large scattered orange-colored lenticels,

covered during their first season with hoary tomentum and rather bright

or dark red-brown and pubescent in their second summer; more often

shrubby, with numerous stems 4′—8′ thick and 15°—20° high; frequently a

low bush, with straggling almost prostrate stems. Winter-buds ovoid,

acute, nearly terete, dark red, coated with pale pubescence, about ¼′

long. Bark nearly ⅛′ thick, light red-brown, slightly fissured and

divided into closely appressed plate-like scales. Wood light, soft,

close-grained, light brown tinged with red, with thin nearly white

sapwood.

Distribution. Borders of salt marshes and ponds and sandy coast dunes;

Vancouver Island southward along the shores of Puget Sound and the

Pacific Ocean to southern Oregon.

24. Salix sitchensis Sanson.

[Illustration: Fig. 158]

Leaves oblong-obovate to oblanceolate, entire or minutely glandular

dentate, acute or acuminate, or rounded and short-pointed, or rounded at

apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate at base, when they unfold pubescent

or tomentose on the upper surface, and coated on the lower with lustrous

white silky pubescence or tomentum persistent during the season or

sometimes deciduous from the leaves of vigorous young shoots, at

maturity thin and firm, dark green, lustrous and glabrous above, with

the exception of the pubescent midrib, 2′—5′ long, ¾′—1½′ wide, with

conspicuous slender veins arcuate and united within the margins and

prominent reticulate veinlets; petioles stout, pubescent, rarely ½′

long; stipules rarely produced, foliaceous, semilunar, acute or rounded

at apex, glandular-dentate, coated below with hoary tomentum, often ½′

long, caducous. Flowers: aments cylindric, densely flowered, erect on

short tomentose leafy branchlets, the staminate 1½′—2′ long and ½′

thick, the pistillate 2½′—3′ long, and ¼′ thick; scales yellow or tawny,

the staminate oblong-obovate, rounded at the apex, covered with long

white hairs, much longer than the more acute pubescent scales of the

pistillate ament; stamen 1, with an elongated glabrous filament, or very

rarely 2, with filaments united below the middle or nearly to the apex;

ovary short-stalked, ovoid, conic, acute, pubescent and gradually

narrowed into the elongated style, with entire or slightly emarginate

short stigmas. Fruit ovoid, narrowed above, light red-brown, pubescent

about ¼′ long.

A much-branched tree, occasionally 25°—30° high, with a short contorted

often inclining trunk sometimes 1° in diameter, and slender brittle

branchlets coated at first with hoary tomentum, pubescent and tomentose

and dark red-brown or orange color during their first winter, becoming

darker, pubescent or glabrous, and sometimes covered with a glaucous

bloom in their second season; more often shrubby and 6°—15° tall.

Winter-buds acute, nearly terete, light red-brown, pubescent or

puberulous, about ¼′ long. Bark about ⅛′ thick and broken into irregular

closely appressed dark brown scales tinged with red. Wood light, soft,

close-grained, pale red, with thick nearly white sapwood.

Distribution. Banks of streams and in low moist ground; Cook Inlet and

Kadiak Island, Alaska, southward in the neighborhood of the coast to

Santa Barbara, California; on the Marble Creek of the Kaweah River at

6900° altitude (f. _Ralphiana_ Jeps.)

VI. MYRICACEÆ.

Aromatic resinous trees and shrubs, with watery juice, terete branches,

and small scaly buds. Leaves alternate, revolute in the bud, serrate,

resinous-punctate, persistent in our species, in falling leaving

elevated semiorbicular leaf-scars showing the ends of three nearly

equidistant fibro-vascular bundles. Flowers unisexual, diœcious or

monœcious, usually subtended by minute bractlets, in the axils of the

deciduous scales of unisexual or androgynous simple oblong aments from

buds in the axils of the leaves of the year, opening in early spring,

the staminate below the pistillate in androgynous aments; staminate,

perianth 0; stamens 4 or many, inserted on the thickened base of the

scales of the ament; filaments slender, united at the base into a short

stipe; anthers ovoid, erect, 2-celled, introrse, opening longitudinally;

ovary rudimentary or 0; pistillate flowers single or in pairs; ovary

sessile, 1-celled; styles short, divided into 2 elongated filiform

stigmas stigmatic on the inner face; ovule solitary, erect from the base

of the cell, orthotropous, the micropyle superior. Fruit a globose or

ovoid dry drupe usually covered with waxy exudations; nut hard,

thick-walled. Seed erect, with a thin coat, without albumen; embryo

straight; cotyledons plano-convex, fleshy; radicle short, superior,

turned away from the minute basal hilum.

The family consists of the genus _Myrica_ L., of about thirty or forty

species of small trees and shrubs, widely distributed through the

temperate and warmer parts of both hemispheres. Of the seven North

American species three are trees. Wax is obtained from the exudations of

the fruit of several species. The bark is astringent, and sometimes used

in medicine, in tanning, and as an aniline dye. _Myrica_ rubra Sieb and

Zacc., of southern Japan and China, is cultivated for its succulent

aromatic red fruit.

The generic name is probably from the ancient name of some shrub,

possibly the Tamarisk.

CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES.

Flowers diœcious.

Leaves oblanceolate, usually acute or rarely rounded at apex, mostly

coarsely serrate above the middle, yellow-green, coated below

with conspicuous orange-colored glands.

1. M. cerifera (A, C).

Leaves usually broadly oblong-obovate, rounded or rarely acute at

apex, entire, dark green and lustrous.

2. M. inodora (C).

Flowers monœcious; leaves oblanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, sharply

serrate, dark green and lustrous.

3. M. californica (G).

1. Myrica cerifera L. Wax Myrtle.

[Illustration: Fig. 159]

Leaves oblanceolate or rarely oblong-lanceolate, acute or rarely

gradually narrowed and rounded at apex, cuneate at base, decurrent on

short stout petioles, coarsely serrate above the middle or entire,

yellow-green, covered above by minute dark glands and below by bright

orange-colored glands, 1½′—4′ long and ¼′—½′ wide, with a slender pale

midrib often puberulous below, and few obscure arcuate veins, fragrant

with a balsamic resinous odor; gradually deciduous at the end of their

first year. Flowers in small oblong aments, with ovate acute ciliate

scales, those of the staminate plant ½′—¾′ long, about twice as long as

those of the pistillate plant; stamens few, with oblong slightly

obcordate anthers at first tinged with red, becoming yellow; ovary

gradually narrowed into 2 slender spreading stigmas longer than its

scale. Fruit in short spikes, ripening in September and October and

persistent on the branches during the winter, irregularly deciduous in

the spring and early summer, globose, about ⅛′ in diameter, slightly

papillose, light green, coated with thick pale blue wax; seed pale,

minute.

A tree, occasionally 40° high, with a tall trunk 8′—10′ in diameter,

slender upright or slightly spreading branches forming a narrow

round-topped head, and slender branchlets marked by small pale

lenticels, coated at first with loose rufous tomentum and caducous

orange-colored glands, bright red-brown or dark brown tinged with gray,

usually lustrous and nearly glabrous during their first winter, finally

becoming dark brown; generally smaller, frequently shrubby. Winter-buds

oblong, acute, 1/16′—⅛′ long, with numerous ovate acute imbricated

scales, the inner scales becoming nearly ½′ long, and often persistent

until the young branch has completed its growth. Bark of the trunk ¼′

thick, compact, smooth, light gray. Wood light, soft and brittle, dark

brown, with thin lighter-colored sapwood.

Distribution. In the neighborhood of the coast; Cape May, New Jersey,

southern Delaware and Maryland to the keys of southern Florida, and

through the Gulf states to the shores of Aranzas Pass, San Patricio

County, Texas, ranging inland to the neighborhood of Natchez, Jackson

County, Mississippi, the valley of the Red River (Natchitoches,

Louisiana and Fulton, Arkansas), and to Cherokee County, Texas, and

northward to the valley of the Washita River, Arkansas; on the Bermuda

and Bahama Islands and on several of the Antilles; most abundant and of

its largest size on the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts in sandy swamps

and pond holes; the most common woody plant and forming great thickets

on the Everglades east of Lake Okeechobee, Florida; in the sandy soil of

Pine-barrens and on dry arid hills of the interior, often only a few

inches in height, var. _pumila_ Michx.

2. Myrica inodora W. Bartr. Wax Myrtle.

[Illustration: Fig. 160]

Leaves broadly oblong-obovate or rarely ovate, rounded or sometimes

pointed and occasionally apiculate at apex, narrowed at base, decurrent

on short stout petioles, entire or rarely obscurely toothed toward the

apex, thick and coriaceous, glandular-punctate, dark green and very

lustrous above, bright green below, 2′—4′ long, ¾′—1½′ wide, with a

broad conspicuously glandular midrib slightly pubescent on the lower

side, and few remote slender obscure primary veins forked and arcuate

near the much-thickened and revolute margins; gradually deciduous from

May until midsummer. Flowers in aments ¾′—1′ long, with ovate acute

glandular scales; stamens numerous, with oblong slightly emarginate

yellow anthers; pistillate flowers usually in pairs, with an ovate

glabrous ovary and slender bright red styles. Fruit produced sparingly

in elongated spikes, oblong, ⅓′—½′ long, papillose, black, and covered

with a thin coat of white wax; seed oblong-oval, acute at apex, rounded

at base, ⅛′ long, bright orange-brown, with a pale yellow hilum.

Usually a shrub, with numerous slender stems, occasionally arborescent

and 18°—20° high, with a straight trunk 6°—8° tall and 2′—3′ in

diameter, and stout branchlets roughened by small scattered lenticels,

coated at first with dense pale tomentum, soon becoming bright

red-brown, scurfy, and glabrous or pubescent. Winter-buds ovoid, acute,

nearly ⅛′ long, with numerous loosely imbricated lanceolate acute

red-brown scurfy-pubescent scales. Bark thin, smooth, nearly white.

Distribution. Deep swamps, Round Lake, Jackson County, and

Appalachicola, and Saint Andrews Bay, Florida; near Mobile and Stockton,

Alabama; near Poplarville, Pearl County, Mississippi, and Bogalusa,

Washington Parish, Louisiana.

3. Myrica californica Cham. Wax Myrtle.

[Illustration: Fig. 161]

Leaves oblanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, acute at apex, remotely

serrate except at the gradually narrowed base with small incurved teeth,

decurrent on a short stout petiole, thin and firm, dark green and

lustrous above, yellow-green, glabrous or puberulous and marked by

minute black glandular dots below, 2′—4′ long, ½′—¾′ wide, with a narrow

yellow midrib and numerous obscure primary veins arcuate near the

thickened and revolute margins, slightly fragrant, gradually deciduous

after the end of their first year. Flowers subtended by conspicuous

bractlets, those of the two sexes on the same plant; staminate in oblong

simple aments often 1′ long, pistillate in shorter aments in the axils

of upper leaves, androgynous aments occurring between the two with

staminate flowers at their base and pistillate flowers above, or with

staminate flowers also mixed with the pistillate at their apex; scales

of the aments ovate, acute, coated with pale tomentum; stamens numerous,

with oblong slightly emarginate dark red-purple anthers soon becoming

yellow; ovary ovoid, with bright red exserted styles. Fruit in short

crowded spikes ripening in the early autumn and usually falling during

the winter, globose, papillose, dark purple, covered with a thin coat of

grayish white wax; seed pale reddish brown, minute.

A tree, occasionally 40° high, with a trunk 14′—15′ in diameter, short

slender branches forming a narrow compact round-topped head, and stout

branchlets coated at first with loose tomentum, dark green or light or

dark red-brown, glabrous or pubescent during their first season,

becoming in their second year much roughened by the elevated leaf-scars,

darker and ultimately ashy gray; usually smaller at the north and toward

the northern and southern limits of its range reduced to a low shrub

often only 3°—4° tall. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, about ⅓′ thick, with

loosely imbricated ovate acute dark red-brown tomentose scales nearly ½′

long when fully grown and long-persistent on the branch. Bark smooth,

compact, 1/16′—⅛′ thick, dark gray or light brown on the surface and

dark red-brown internally. Wood heavy, very hard and strong, brittle,

close-grained, light rose color, with thick lighter colored sapwood.

Distribution. Ocean sand-dunes and moist hillsides in the vicinity of

the coast from the shores of Puget Sound to the neighborhood of Santa

Monica, Los Angeles County, California; of its largest size on the

shores of the Bay of San Francisco.

Occasionally used in California as a garden plant.

VII. LEITNERIACEÆ.

A tree or shrub, with pale slightly fissured bark, scaly buds, stout

terete pithy branchlets marked by pale conspicuous nearly circular

lenticels and by elevated crescent-shaped angled or obscurely 3-lobed

leaf-scars, very light soft wood, and thick fleshy stoloniferous yellow

roots. Leaves involute in the bud, lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate,

acuminate or acute and short-pointed at apex, gradually narrowed at

base, entire, with slightly revolute undulate margins, penniveined with

remote primary veins arcuate and united near the margins, and

conspicuous reticulate veinlets, petiolate, at first coated on the lower

surface and on the petioles with thick pale tomentum and puberulous on

the upper surface, thick and firm at maturity, bright green and lustrous

above, pale and villose-pubescent below, deciduous. Flowers in unisexual

aments, with ovate acute concave tomentose scales, the male and female

on different plants, opening in early spring from buds formed the

previous autumn and covered with acute chestnut-brown hairy scales; the

staminate clustered near the end of the branches, their scales bearing

on the thickened stipe a ring of 3—12 stamens, with slender incurved

filaments and oblong light yellow introrse 2-celled anthers opening

longitudinally; perianth 0; pistillate aments scattered, shorter and

more slender than the staminate, their scales bearing in their axils a

short-stalked pistil surrounded by a rudimentary perianth of small

gland-fringed scales, the 2 larger lateral, the others next the axis of

the inflorescence; ovary superior, pubescent, 1-celled, with an

elongated flattened style inserted obliquely, curving inward above the

middle in anthesis, grooved and stigmatic on the inner face; ovule

solitary, attached laterally, ascending, semianatropous; micropyle

directed upward. Fruit an oblong compressed dry drupe thick and rounded

on the ventral, narrowed on the dorsal edge, rounded at base, thin and

pointed at apex, chestnut-brown, rugose, with a thick dry exocarp

closely investing the thin-walled light brown crustaceous rugose nutlet.

Seed flattened, rounded at the ends, light brown, marked on the thick

edge with the oblong nearly black hilum; embryo erect, surrounded by

thin fleshy albumen; cotyledons oblong, flattened; radicle superior,

conical, short, and fleshy.

The family consists of a single genus, _Leitneria_ Chapm., with one

species of the southern United States, named for a German naturalist

killed in Florida during the Seminole War.

1. Leitneria floridana Chapm. Cork Wood.

[Illustration: Fig. 162]

Leaves 4′—6′ long, 1½′—2½′ wide, with petioles 1′—2′ in length. Flowers

opening at the end of February or early in March; staminate aments

1′—1¼′ long, ¼′ thick, and twice as long as the pistillate. Fruit

solitary or in clusters of 2—4, ripening when the leaves are about half

grown, ¾′ long, ¼′ wide.

A shrub or small tree, occasionally 20° high, with a slender straight

trunk 4′—5′ in diameter above the swollen gradually tapering base,

spreading branches forming a loose open head, and branchlets at first

light reddish brown and thickly coated with gradually deciduous hairs,

becoming in their first winter glabrous or puberulous, especially toward

the ends, and dark red-brown. Winter-buds: terminal broad, conic, ⅛′

long, covered by 10 or 12 oblong nearly triangular closely imbricated

scales coated with pale tomentum and long-persistent at the base of the

branch; lateral scattered, ovoid, flattened. Bark about 1/16′ thick,

dark gray faintly tinged with brown, divided by shallow fissures into

narrow rounded ridges. Wood soft, exceedingly light, close-grained, the

layers of annual growth hardly distinguishable, pale yellow, without

trace of heartwood; occasionally used for the floats of fishing-nets.

Distribution. Borders of swamps of the lower Altamaha River, Georgia

(_C. L. Boynton_); muddy saline shores on the coast of the Gulf of

Mexico near Apalachicola, Florida; swampy prairies, Velasco (_E. J.

Palmer_), and swamps of the Brazos River near Columbia, Brazoria County,

Texas; Varner, Lincoln County (_B. F. Bush_), and Moark, Clay County

(_E. J. Palmer_) Arkansas; and in Butler and Dunklin Counties,

southeastern Missouri, here sometimes occupying muddy sloughs of

considerable extent to the exclusion of other woody plants.

VIII. JUGLANDACEÆ.

Aromatic trees, with watery juice, terete branchlets, scaly buds, the

lateral buds often superposed, 2—4 together, and alternate unequally

pinnate deciduous leaves with elongated grooved petioles and without

stipules, the leaflets increasing in size from the lowest upward,

penniveined, sessile, short-stalked or the terminal usually

long-stalked. Flowers monœcious, opening after the unfolding of the

leaves, the staminate in lateral aments and composed of a 3—6-lobed

calyx in the axil of and adnate to an ovate acute bract, and numerous

stamens inserted on the inner and lower face of the calyx in 2 or

several rows, with short distinct filaments and oblong anthers opening

longitudinally; the pistillate in a spike terminal on a branch of the

year and composed of a 1—3-celled ovary subtended by an involucre free

toward the apex and formed by the union of an anterior bract and 2

lateral bractlets, a 1 or 4-lobed calyx inserted on the ovary, a short

style with 2 plumose stigmas stigmatic on the inner face, and a solitary

erect orthotropous ovule. Fruit drupaceous, the exocarp (husk)

indehiscent or 4-valved, inclosing a thick- or thin-shelled nut divided

by partitions extending inward from the shell, and like the shell more

or less penetrated by internal longitudinal cavities often filled with

dry powder. Seed solitary, 2-lobed from the apex nearly to the middle,

light brown, its coat thin, of 2 layers, without albumen; cotyledons

fleshy and oily, sinuose or corrugated, 2-lobed; radicle short,

superior, filling the apex of the nut. Of the six genera of the Walnut

family two occur in North America.

CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN GENERA.

Aments of staminate flowers simple; husk of the fruit indehiscent; nut

sculptured; pith in plates.

1. Juglans.

Aments of staminate flowers branched; husk of the fruit 4-valved; nut

not sculptured; pith solid.

2. Carya.

1. JUGLANS L. Walnut.

Trees, with furrowed scaly bark, durable dark-colored wood, stout

branchlets, laminate pith, terminal buds with 2 pairs of opposite more

or less open scales often obscurely pinnate at apex, those of the inner

pair more or less leaf-like, and obtuse slightly flattened axillary buds

formed before midsummer and covered with 4 ovate rounded scales, closed

or open during winter. Leaves with numerous leaflets, and terete

petioles leaving in falling large conspicuous elevated obcordate 3-lobed

leaf-scars displaying 3 equidistant U-shaped clusters of dark

fibro-vascular bundle-scars; leaflets conduplicate in the bud, ovate,

acute or acuminate, mostly unequal at base, with veins arcuate and

united near the margins. Aments of the staminate flowers many-flowered,

elongated, solitary or in pairs from lower axillary buds of upper nodes,

appearing from between persistent bud-scales in the autumn and remaining

during the winter as short cones covered by the closely imbricated

bracts of the flowers; calyx 3—6-lobed, its bract free only at the apex;

stamens 8—40, in 2 or several ranks, their anthers surmounted by a

conspicuous dilated truncate or lobed connective; pistillate flowers in

few-flowered spikes, their involucre villose, free only at the apex and

variously cut into a laciniate border (_corolla?_) shorter than the

erect calyx-lobes; ovary rarely of 3 carpels; stigmas club-shaped,

elongated, fimbriately plumose. Fruit ovoid, globose or pyriform, round

or obscurely 4-angled, with a fleshy indehiscent glabrate or hirsute

husk; nut ovoid or globose, more or less flattened, hard, thick-walled,

longitudinally and irregularly rugose, the valves alternate with the

cotyledons, and more or less ribbed along the dorsal sutures and in some

species also on the marginal sutures. Seed more or less compressed,

gradually narrowed or broad and deeply lobed at base, with conspicuous

dark veins radiating from the apex and from the minute basal hilum.

Juglans is confined to temperate North America, the West Indies, South

America from Venezuela to Peru, western and northern China, Korea,

Manchuria, Japan, and Formosa. Eleven species are known. Of exotic

species _Juglans regia_ L., an inhabitant probably originally of China,

is cultivated in the middle Atlantic and southern states and largely in

California for its edible nuts, which are an important article of

commerce. The wood of several species is valued for the interior finish

of houses and for furniture.

_Juglans_, from Jupiter and glands, is the classical name of the

Walnut-tree.

CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES.

Fruit racemose; nut 4-ribbed at the sutures with smaller intermediate

ribs, 2-celled at the base; heartwood light brown; leaflets

11—17, oblong-lanceolate.

1. J. cinerea (A, C).

Fruit usually solitary or in pairs; nut without sutural ribs, 4-celled

at the base; heartwood dark brown.

Nuts prominently and irregularly ridged with often interrupted

ridges; leaflets 15—23, ovate-lanceolate.

2. J. nigra (A, C).

Nuts more or less deeply longitudinally grooved.

Nuts up to 1½′ in diameter; leaflets 9—13, rarely 19,

oblong-lanceolate to ovate, acuminate, coarsely serrate.

3. J. major (F, H).

Nuts not more than ¾′ in diameter.

Leaflets 17—23, narrow-lanceolate, long-pointed.

4. J. rupestris (C).

Leaflets 11—15 or rarely 19, oblong-lanceolate, acute or

acuminate, the lower often rounded at the apex.

5. J. californica (G).

Nuts obscurely or not at all grooved, up to 2′ in diameter; leaflets

15—19, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, long-pointed.

6. J. Hindsii (G).

1. Juglans cinerea L. Butternut.

[Illustration: Fig. 163]

Leaves 15′—30′ long, with stout pubescent petioles, and 11—17

oblong-lanceolate acute or acuminate leaflets 2′—3′ long, 1½′—2′ wide,

finely serrate except at the unequal rounded base, glandular and sticky

as they unfold, at maturity thin, yellow-green and rugose above, pale

and soft-pubescent below; turning yellow or brown and falling early in

the autumn. Flowers: staminate in thick aments 3′—5′ long; calyx usually

6-lobed, light yellow-green, puberulous on the outer surface, ¼′ long,

its bract rusty-pubescent, acute at apex; stamens 8—12, with nearly

sessile dark brown anthers and slightly lobed connectives; pistillate in

6—8-flowered spikes, constricted above the middle, about ⅓′ long, its

bract and bractlets coated with sticky white or pink glandular hairs and

rather shorter than the linear-lanceolate calyx-lobes; stigmas bright

red, ½′ long. Fruit in 3—5 fruited drooping clusters, obscurely 2 or

rarely 4-ridged, ovoid-oblong, coated with rusty clammy matted hairs,

1½′—2½′ long with a thick husk; nut ovoid, abruptly contracted and

acuminate at apex, with 4 prominent and 4 narrow less conspicuous ribs,

light brown, deeply sculptured between the ribs into thin broad

irregular longitudinal plates, 2-celled at the base and 1-celled above

the middle; seed sweet, very oily, soon becoming rancid.

A tree, occasionally 100° high, with a tall straight trunk 2°—3° in

diameter, and sometimes free of branches for half its height; more

frequently divided 20° or 30° above the ground into many stout limbs

spreading horizontally and forming a broad low symmetrical round-topped

head, and dark orange-brown or bright green rather lustrous branchlets

coated at first with rufous pubescence, covered more or less thickly

with pale lenticels, gradually becoming puberulous, brown tinged with

red or orange in their second year and marked by light gray leaf-scars

with large black fibro-vascular bundle-scars and elevated bands of pale

tomentum separating them from the lowest axillary bud. Winter-buds:

terminal ½′—⅔′ long, ¼′ wide, flattened and obliquely truncate at apex,

their outer scales coated with short pale pubescence; axillary buds

ovoid, flattened, rounded at apex, ⅛′ long, covered with rusty brown or

pale pubescence. Bark of young stems and of the branches smooth and

light gray, becoming on old trees ¾′—1′ thick, light brown, deeply

divided into broad ridges separating on the surface into small appressed

plate-like scales. Wood light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, light

brown, turning darker with exposure, with thin light-colored sapwood

composed of 5 or 6 layers of annual growth; largely employed in the

interior finish of houses, and for furniture. The inner bark possesses

mild cathartic properties. Sugar is made from the sap, and the green

husks of the fruit are used to dye cloth yellow or orange color.

Distribution. Rich moist soil near the banks of streams and on low rocky

hills, southern New Brunswick to the valley of the St. Lawrence River in

Ontario, the northern peninsular of Michigan, southern Minnesota,

eastern South Dakota, eastern Iowa, southeastern Nebraska, and southward

to central Kansas, northern Arkansas, Delaware, eastern Virginia, and on

the Appalachian Mountains and their foothills to northern Georgia; in

northern Alabama, southern Illinois and western Tennessee; most abundant

northward.

Occasionally cultivated.

× _Juglans quadrangulata_ A. Rehd., a natural hybrid of _J. cinerea_ and

the so-called English Walnut (_J. regia_) is not uncommon in eastern

Massachusetts, and a hybrid of _J. cinerea_ with the Japanese _J.

Sieboldiana_ Maxm. has appeared in the United States.

2. Juglans nigra L. Black Walnut.

[Illustration: Fig. 164]

Leaves 1°—2° long, with pubescent petioles, and 15—23 ovate-lanceolate

leaflets 3′—3½′ long, 1′—1¼′ wide, long-pointed, sharply serrate except

at the more or less rounded often unequal base, thin, bright

yellow-green, lustrous and glabrous above, soft-pubescent below,

especially along the slender midrib and primary veins; turning bright

clear yellow in the autumn before falling. Flowers: staminate in stout

puberulous aments 3′—5′ long, calyx rotund, 6-lobed, with nearly

orbicular lobes concave and pubescent on the outer surface, its bract ¼′

long, nearly triangular, coated with rusty brown or pale tomentum;

stamens 20—30, arranged in many series, with nearly sessile purple and

truncate connectives; pistillate in 2—5 flowered spikes, ovoid,

gradually narrowed at the apex, ¼′ long, their bract and bractlets

coated below with pale glandular hairs and green and puberulous above,

sometimes irregularly cut into a laciniate border, or reduced to an

obscure ring just below the apex of the ovary; calyx-lobes ovate, acute,

light green, puberulous on the outer, glabrous or pilose on the inner

surface; stigmas yellow-green tinged on the margins with red, ½′—¾′

long. Fruit solitary or in pairs, globose, oblong and pointed at apex,

or slightly pyriform, light yellow-green, roughened by clusters of short

pale articulate hairs, 1½′—2′ in diameter, with a thick husk; nut oval

or oblong, slightly flattened, 1⅛′—1½′ in diameter, dark brown tinged

with red, deeply divided on the outer surface into thin or thick often

interrupted irregular ridges, 4-celled at base and slightly 2-celled at

the apex; seed sweet, soon becoming rancid.

A tree, frequently 100° and occasionally 150° high, with a straight

trunk often clear of branches for 50°—60° and 4°—6° in diameter, thick

limbs spreading gradually and forming a comparatively narrow shapely

round-topped head of mostly upright rigid branches, and stout branchlets

covered at first with pale or rusty matted hairs, dull orange-brown and

pilose or puberulous during their first winter, marked by raised

conspicuous orange-colored lenticels and elevated pale leaf-scars,

gradually growing darker and ultimately light brown. Winter-buds:

terminal ovoid, slightly flattened, obliquely rounded at apex, coated

with pale silky tomentum, ⅓′ long, with usually 4 obscurely pinnate

scales; axillary ⅛′ long, tomentose, their outer scales opening at the

apex during the winter. Bark of young stems and branches light brown and

covered with thin scales, becoming on old trees 2′—3′ thick, dark brown

slightly tinged with red, and deeply divided into broad rounded ridges

broken on the surface into thick appressed scales. Wood heavy, hard,

strong, rather coarse-grained, very durable, rich dark brown, with thin

lighter colored sapwood of 10—20 layers of annual growth; largely used

in cabinet-making, the interior finish of houses, gun-stocks,

air-planes, and in boat and shipbuilding.

Distribution. Rich bottom-lands and fertile hillsides, western

Massachusetts to southern Ontario, southern Michigan, southeastern

Minnesota, central and northern Nebraska, central Kansas, eastern

Oklahoma, and southward to western Florida, central Alabama and

Mississippi, and the valley of the San Antonio River, Texas; most

abundant in the region west of the Alleghany Mountains, and of its

largest size on the western slopes of the high mountains of North

Carolina and Tennessee, and on the fertile river bottom-lands of

southern Illinois and Indiana, southwestern Arkansas, and Oklahoma;

largely destroyed for its valuable timber, and now rare.

Occasionally cultivated as an ornamental tree in the eastern United

States, and in western and central Europe. × _Juglans intermedia_ Carr.,

a natural hybrid, of _J. nigra_ with the so-called English Walnut (_J.

regia_) has appeared in the United States and Europe, and on the banks

of the James River in Virginia has grown to a larger size than any other

recorded Walnut-tree. In California a hybrid, known as “Royal,” between

_J. nigra_ and _J. Hindsii_ has been artificially produced.

3. Juglans major Hell. Nogal.

_Juglans rupestris_ var. _major_ Torr.

_Juglans rupestris_ Sarg., in part, not Engelm.

[Illustration: Fig. 165]

Leaves 8′—12′ long, with slender pubescent petioles and rachis, and 9—13

rarely 19 oblong-lanceolate to ovate acuminate often slightly falcate

coarsely serrate leaflets cuneate or rounded at base, coated when they

first appear with scurfy pubescence, soon becoming glabrous, or at

maturity slightly pubescent on the midrib below, 3′—4′, or those of the

lower pairs 1½′—2′ long, and 1′—1½′ wide, thin, yellow-green, with a

thin conspicuous yellow midrib and primary veins. Flowers: staminate in

slender puberulous or pubescent aments 8′—10′ long; calyx nearly

orbicular, long-stalked, pale yellow-green, 5 or 6-lobed, the lobes

ovate, acute, hoary pubescent on the outer surface, their bract acute,

coated with thick pale tomentum; stamens 30—40, with nearly sessile

yellow anthers, and slightly divided connectives; pistillate not seen.

Fruit subglobose to slightly ovoid or oblong, abruptly contracted at

apex into a short point (_J. elæopyren_ Dode), densely tomentose when

half grown, 1′—1½′ in diameter, with a thin husk covered with close

rufous pubescence; nut dark brown or black, slightly compressed, usually

rather broader than high, or ovoid, rounded or bluntly acute at apex,

rounded and sometimes depressed at base, longitudinally grooved with

broad deep grooves, thick shelled; seed small and sweet.

A tree sometimes 50° high, with a straight trunk occasionally 3°—4° in

diameter, or divided at the ground into several large stems, stout

branches forming a narrow head, and slender branchlets thickly coated

when they first appear with rufous pubescence, becoming red-brown,

pubescent or puberulous and marked by many small pale lenticels at the

end of their first season and ashy gray the following year.

Distribution. Banks of streams in the cañons of central and southern New

Mexico and Arizona, and on Oak Creek near Flagstaff, Arizona on the

Colorado plateau (_P. Lowell_).

4. Juglans rupestris Engelm. Walnut.

[Illustration: Fig. 166]

Leaves 9′—12′ long, with slender pubescent or puberulous petioles and

rachis, and 13—23 narrow lanceolate long-pointed usually falcate finely

serrate leaflets entire or nearly entire on their incurved margins,

cuneate or rounded at base, thin, light green, glabrous or pubescent on

the midrib below, 2′—3′ long and ⅓′—⅔′ wide. Flowers: staminate in

slender aments, 3′—4′ long, pubescent when they first appear, becoming

glabrous; calyx short-stalked, nearly orbicular, light yellow-green,

puberulous on the outer surface, 3—5-lobed with rounded lobes, their

bracts ovate-lanceolate, coated with hoary tomentum; stamens about 20,

with nearly sessile yellow anthers and slightly lobed connectives;

pistillate flowers oblong, narrowed at the ends, thickly coated with

rufous pubescence; bract and bractlets irregularly divided into a

laciniate border rather shorter than the ovate acute calyx-lobes;

stigmas green tinged with red, ⅓′ long. Fruit globose or subglobose,

tipped with the persistent remnants of the calyx, pubescent or

puberulous with rusty hairs, ½′—¾′ in diameter, with a thin husk; nut

subglobose to slightly ovoid, sometimes obscurely 4-ridged from the apex

nearly to the middle (_J. subrupestris_ Dode), deeply grooved with

longitudinal simple or forked grooves, 4-celled at base, 2-celled at

apex, thick shelled; seed small and sweet.

A shrubby round-headed tree occasionally 20°—30° high, with a short

generally leaning trunk 18′—30′ in diameter, usually branching from near

the ground, and slender branchlets coated with pale scurfy pubescence

often persistent for two or three years, orange-red and marked by pale

lenticels in their first winter and ultimately ashy gray; often a shrub

with clustered stems only a few feet high. Winter-buds: terminal, ¼′—½′

long, compressed, narrowed and often oblique at apex, covered with pale

tomentum; axillary ⅛′ long, compressed, coated with pale pubescence.

Wood heavy, hard, not strong, rich dark brown with thick white sapwood.

The beauty of the veneers obtained from the stumps of the large trees is

fast causing their destruction.

Distribution. Limestone banks of the streams of southern, central and

western Texas from the Rio Grande to the mountains in the western part

of the state; western Oklahoma (Kiowa, Greer, Beckham, Rogel, Mills and

Ellis Counties); southeastern New Mexico.

Occasionally cultivated in the eastern United States and in Europe, and

hardy as far north as eastern Massachusetts; interesting as producing

the smallest nuts of any of the known Walnut-trees.

5. Juglans californica S. Wats.

[Illustration: Fig. 167]

Leaves 6′—9′ long, with glandular pubescent petioles and rachis, and

11—15, rarely 19, oblong-lanceolate acute or acuminate glabrous finely

serrate leaflets cuneate or rounded at base, 1′—2½′ long and ⅓′—¾′ wide,

the lower often rounded at apex. Flowers: staminate in slender glabrous

or puberulous aments 2′—3′ long; calyx puberulous on the outer surface

with acute or rarely rounded lobes, its bract, puberulous; stamens

30—40, with yellow anthers and short connectives bifid at apex; the

pistillate subglobose, puberulous; stigmas yellow, ½′ long. Fruit

globose, ⅓′—¾′ in diameter, with a thin dark-colored puberulous husk;

nut nearly globose, deeply grooved with longitudinal grooves, thick

shelled, 4-celled at base, imperfectly 2-celled at apex; seed small and

sweet.

A shrubby round-headed tree or shrub generally 12°—20°, rarely 40°—50°

high, usually branching from the ground or with a short trunk 1° or

rarely 2°—3° in diameter, and slender branchlets coated with scurfy

rufous pubescence when they first appear, glabrous, reddish brown and

marked by pale lenticels at the end of their first season and gray the

following year. Winter-buds coated with rufous tomentum.

Distribution. Banks of streams and bottom-lands in the southern

California coast region from Santa Barbara and the Ojai valley to San

Fernando and the Sierra Santa Monica, and along the foothills of the

Sierra Madre to the San Bernardino Mountains and southward to the Sierra

Santa Anna.

A curious seminal variety (var. _quercina_ Babcock) with compound leaves

composed of 3 oval leaflets, the terminal long-stalked and 2 or 3 times

larger than the lateral leaflets, is occasionally cultivated in

California.

6. Juglans Hindsii Rehd.

_Juglans californica_ S. Wats., in part.

_Juglans californica_ var. _Hindsii_ Jep.

[Illustration: Fig. 168]

Leaves 9′—12′ long, with slender villose pubescent petioles and rachis,

and 15—19, usually 19, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate long-pointed often

slightly falcate leaflets, serrate with remote teeth except toward the

usually rounded cuneate or rarely cordate base, thin, puberulous above

while young, becoming bright green, lustrous and glabrous on the upper

surface, below furnished with conspicuous tufts of pale hairs, and

villose-pubescent along the midrib and primary veins, 2½′—4′ long and

¾′—1′ wide. Flowers: staminate in slender glabrous or sparingly villose

aments 3′—5′ long; calyx elongated, coated like its bract with scurfy

pubescence, divided into 5 or 6 acute lobes; stamens 30—40, with short

connectives bifid at apex; ovary of the pistillate flower oblong-ovoid,

thickly covered with villose pubescence, ⅛′ long, the border of the thin

bract and bractlets much shorter than the calyx-lobes; stigma yellow.

Fruit globose, 1¼′—2′ in diameter, with a thin dark-colored husk covered

with short soft pubescence; nut nearly globose, somewhat flattened at

the ends, faintly grooved with remote longitudinal depressions, thick

shelled; seed small and sweet.

A tree usually 30°—40°, occasionally 75° high, with a tall trunk 1°—2°

in diameter, stout pendulous branches forming a narrow round-topped

head, and comparatively slender branchlets thickly coated when they

first appear with villose pubescence, reddish brown and puberulous, and

marked by pale lenticels and small elevated obscurely 3-lobed leaf scars

during their first winter, becoming darker and nearly glabrous in their

second year. Winter-buds coated with hoary tomentum; terminal acute,

compressed, more or less enlarged at apex, ¼′—⅓′ long; axillary usually

solitary, nearly globose, about 1/16′ in diameter. Bark gray-brown,

smoothish, longitudinally fissured into narrow plates. Wood heavy, hard,

rather coarse-grained, dark brown often mottled, with thick pale sapwood

of from 8 to 10 layers of annual growth.

Distribution. Coast region of central California; banks of the lower

Sacramento River; along streams near the western base of Mt. Diablo, and

on eastern slope of the Napa Range near Atlas Peak east of Napa Valley;

near Loyalton in the Sierra Valley.

Often cultivated in California as a shade tree and as stock on which to

graft varieties of _Juglans regia_ L., and rarely in the eastern states

and in Europe. In California, a hybrid known as “Paradox” between _J.

Hindsii_ and _J. regia_ has been artificially produced.

2. CARYA NUTT. Hickory.

_Hicoria_ Rafn.

Trees, with smooth gray bark becoming on old trunks rough or scaly,

strong hard tough brown heartwood, pale sapwood and tough terete

flexible branchlets, solid pith, buds covered with few valvate or with

numerous imbricated scales, the axillary buds much smaller than the

terminal. Leaves often glandular-dotted, their petioles sometimes

persistent on the branches during the winter, and in falling leaving

large elevated oblong or semiorbicular more or less 3-lobed emarginate

leaf-scars displaying small marginal clusters and central radiating

lines of dark fibro-vascular bundle-scars; leaflets involute in the bud,

ovate or obovate, usually acuminate, thick and firm, serrate, mostly

unequal at base, with veins forked and running to the margins; turning

clear bright yellow in the autumn. Aments of the staminate flowers

ternate, slender, solitary or fascicled in the axils of leaves of the

previous or rarely of the current year, or at the base of branches of

the year from the inner scales of the terminal bud, the lateral branches

in the axils of lanceolate acute persistent bracts; calyx usually 2

rarely 3-lobed, its bract free nearly to the base and usually much

longer than the ovate rounded or acuminate calyx-lobes; stamens 3—10, in

2 or 3 series, their anthers ovate-oblong, emarginate or divided at

apex, yellow or red, pilose or hirsute, as long or longer than their

slender connectives; pistillate flowers sessile, in 2—10-flowered

spikes, with a perianth-like involucre, slightly 4-ridged, unequally

4-lobed at apex, villose and covered on the outer surface with yellow

scales more or less persistent on the fruit, the bract much longer than

the bractlets and the single calyx-lobe; stigmas short,

papillose-stigmatic. Fruit ovoid, globose or pyriform, with a thin or

thick husk becoming hard and woody at maturity, 4-valved, the sutures

alternate with those of the nut, sometimes more or less broadly winged,

splitting to the base or to the middle; nut oblong, obovoid or

subglobose, acute, acuminate, or rounded at apex, tipped by the hardened

remnants of the style, narrowed and usually rounded at base, cylindric,

or compressed contrary to the valves, the shell thin and brittle or

thick, hard, and bony, smooth or variously rugose or ridged on the outer

surface, 4-celled at base, 2-celled at apex. Seed compressed, variously

grooved on the back of the flat or concave lobes, sweet or bitter.

_Carya_ is confined to the temperate region of eastern North America

from the valley of the St. Lawrence River to the highlands of Mexico,

and to southern China where one species occurs. Of the seventeen

species, fifteen inhabit the territory of the United States.

The generic name is from Καρύα, an ancient name of the Walnut.

CONSPECTUS OF THE SPECIES OF THE UNITED STATES.

Bud-scales valvate, the inner strap-shaped and only occasionally

slightly accrescent; fruit more or less broadly winged at the

sutures; the thin partitions of the nut containing cavities

filled with dark astringent powder (absent in 3 and 5).

Shell of the nut thin and brittle; leaflets more or less falcate.

Aments of staminate flowers nearly sessile, usually on branches of

the previous year; lobes of the seed entire or slightly

notched at apex.

Leaflets 9—17; nut ovoid-oblong, cylindric; seed sweet.

1. C. pecan (A, C).

Leaflets 7—13; nut oblong, compressed; seed bitter.

2. C. texana (C).

Aments of staminate flowers pedunculate, on branches of the year

or of the previous year; lobes of the bitter seed deeply

2-lobed.

Leaflets 7—9; nut cylindric or slightly compressed.

3. C. cordiformis (A, C).

Leaflets 7—13; nut compressed, usually conspicuously wrinkled.

4. C. aquatica (C).

Shell of the ellipsoidal cylindric nut thick and hard; lobes of the

sweet seed deeply 2-lobed; leaflets 7—9, occasionally 5,

rarely slightly falcate; aments of staminate flowers

long-pedunculate at the base of branches of the year.

5. C. myristicæformis (C).

Bud-scales imbricated, the inner becoming much enlarged and often

highly colored; aments of staminate flowers on peduncles from

the base of branches of the year, rarely from the axils of

leaves; fruit usually without wings; partitions of the nut thick

without cavities filled with astringent powder; seed sweet, its

lobes deeply 2-lobed.

Branchlets usually stout (slender in 7); involucre ¼′—½′ in

thickness, opening freely to the base.

Bark on old trunks separating into long, broad, loosely attached

plates; nuts pale.

Branchlets light red-brown; shell of the nut thin.

Leaflets 5 or rarely 7, obovate to ovate, acute or acuminate;

nut much compressed, often long-pointed at apex;

branchlets glabrous or pubescent.

6. C. ovata (A, C).

Leaflets 5, lanceolate, acuminate; nut little compressed,

acute at apex; branchlets slender, glabrous.

7. C. carolinæ-septentrionalis (C).

Branchlets pale orange color, pubescent; leaflets usually 7—9;

shell of the nut thick.

8. C. laciniosa (A, C).

Bark not scaly, on old trunks dark, deeply ridged; leaflets 7—9,

often subcoriaceous, pubescent below; nut reddish brown,

often long-pointed, thick shelled; branchlets pubescent.

9. C. alba (A, C).

Branchlets slender; leaves 5—7-foliolate; involucre of the fruit

tardily dehiscent to the middle, indehiscent or opening freely

to the base; shell of the nut thick, bark close, (sometimes

scaly in 13).

Branchlets and leaves not covered when they first appear with

rusty brown pubescence.

Involucre of the fruit 3—5.5 mm. in thickness, opening freely to

the base, leaves usually 7-foliolate; winter-buds

pubescent.

Leaflets hoary tomentose below in early spring, slightly

pubescent at maturity; petioles and rachis glabrous;

fruit broad-obovoid; branchlets glabrous.

10. C. leiodermis (C).

Leaflets covered in early spring with silvery scales, pale and

pubescent below during the season; petioles and rachis

more or less thickly covered with fascicled hairs; fruit

ellipsoidal to obovoid or globose; branchlets glabrous

or slightly pubescent.

11. C. pallida (A, C).

Involucre of the fruit 1—3 mm. in thickness; winter-buds

glabrous or puberulous.

Leaves 5, rarely 7-foliolate, glabrous or rarely slightly

pubescent; fruit obovoid, often narrowed below into a

stipitate base, the involucre indehiscent or tardily

dehiscent.

12. C. glabra (A, C).

Leaves generally 7-foliolate, glabrous or rarely pubescent;

fruit ellipsoidal, subglobose or obovoid, the involucre

opening freely to the base; bark often more or less

scaly.

13. C. ovalis (A, C).

Branchlets and leaves densely covered when they first appear with

rusty brown pubescence; leaflets usually 5—7; winter-buds

rusty pubescent.

Fruit obovoid; the involucre 2—3 mm. in thickness; peduncles of

the aments of staminate flowers often from the axils of

leaves; branchlets soon becoming glabrous.

14. C. floridana (C).

Fruit subglobose to broadly obovoid, ellipsoidal or pyriform,

the involucre on the different varieties 2—13 mm. in

thickness; branchlets pubescent through their first

season.

15. C. Buckleyi (A, C).

1. Carya pecan Asch. & Gr. Pecan.

[Illustration: Fig. 169]

Leaves 12′—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 leaflets rounded 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. Fruit in 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; nut ovoid 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; seed sweet,

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-buds acute, compressed,

covered with clusters of bright yellow articulate hairs and pale

tomentum; terminal ½′ long; axillary ovoid, often stalked, especially

the large upper bud. Bark 1′—1½′ thick, light brown tinged with red, and

deeply and irregularly divided into narrow forked ridges broken on the

surface into thick appressed scales. Wood heavy, 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, southwestern Indiana (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.

2. Carya texana Schn. Bitter Pecan.

[Illustration: Fig. 170]

Leaves 10′—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. Fruit oblong 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; nut

oblong-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; seed very 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-buds covered with light

yellow articulate hairs; the terminal oblong, acute, or acuminate,

somewhat compressed, about ¼′ long, and rather longer than the upper

lateral bud. Bark ½′—¾′ thick, light reddish brown, and roughened by

closely appressed variously shaped plate-like scales. Wood

close-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.

3. Carya cordiformis K. Koch. Pignut. Bitternut.

[Illustration: Fig. 171]

Leaves 6′—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. _latifolia_ Sarg.).

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. Fruit

cylindric or slightly compressed, ¾′—1½′ long, obovoid to subglobose, or

oblong and acute at apex (var. _elongata_ Ashe), 4-winged from the apex

to about the middle, with a thin puberulous husk, more or less thickly

coated with small yellow scales; nut ovoid 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; seed bright 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-buds

compressed, 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. Bark ⅓′—¾′ thick, light brown tinged with red, and

broken into thin plate-like scales separating on the surface into small

thin flakes. Wood heavy, 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. Brownii_ Sarg. of _C. cordiformis_ with _C.

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. Brownii_ var. _varians_ Sarg., probably of the same parentage also,

occurs near Van Buren. × _C. Laneyi_ Sarg., a natural hybrid evidently

of _C. cordiformis_ with _C. ovata_, has been found in Rochester, New

York, and trees considered varieties of the same hybrid, var.

_chateaugayensis_ Sarg., occur near the mouth of the Chateaugay River,

Province of Quebec, and at Summertown, Ontario.

4. Carya aquatica Nutt. Water Hickory.

[Illustration: Fig. 172]

Leaves 9′—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. Fruit often 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, covered more 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; nut flattened,

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; seed oblong, 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-buds

slightly flattened, acute, dark reddish brown, covered with caducous

yellow scales; terminal ⅛′—¼′ long, often villose; axillary much

smaller, frequently nearly sessile, often solitary. Bark ½′—⅔′ thick,

separating freely into long loose plate-like light brown scales tinged

with red. Wood heavy, 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. _australis_ Sarg. 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.

5. Carya myristicæformis Nutt. Nutmeg Hickory.

[Illustration: Fig. 173]

Leaves 7′—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 pubescent midrib; 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. Fruit usually 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 than 1/32′ thick, splitting nearly to the base; nut ellipsoidal

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; seed sweet, 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-buds covered with thick brown scurvy pubescence;

terminal ⅛′—¼′ long, ovoid, rather obtuse; axillary much smaller, acute,

slightly flattened, sessile or short-stalked, often solitary. Bark ½′—¾′

thick, dark brown tinged with red, and broken irregularly into small

thin appressed scales. Wood hard, 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.

6. Carya ovata K. Koch. Shellbark Hickory. Shagbark Hickory.

[Illustration: Fig. 174]

Leaves 8′—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 lowest pair. 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.

Fruit solitary 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; nut

oblong, 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; seed light 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. Bark light 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. Wood heavy, 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 of _C. 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. _Nuttallii_ Sarg., 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. _complanata_

Sarg., 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. _ellipsoidalis_ Sarg., 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. _pubescens_ Sarg., 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 the Savannah 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

Carya ovata var. fraxinifolia Sarg.

[Illustration: Fig. 175]

Leaves 7′—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. Flowers as in the species.

Fruit obovoid, usually rounded at apex, compressed, about 1¼′ long, the

husk splitting freely to the base, ⅙′—⅕′ in thickness; nut much

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.

7. Carya carolinæ-septentrionalis Schn. Shagbark Hickory.

[Illustration: Fig. 176]

Leaves 4′—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. Fruit broader 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;

nut ovoid, compressed, prominently 4-angled, acute at ends, nearly white

or pale brown, with a thin shell; seed light brown, sweet.

A tree, on moist bottom-lands sometimes 80° tall, with a trunk 2°—3° in

diameter, and short 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 than 1/16′ long. Bark light

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. Wood hard, 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.

8. Carya laciniosa Schn. Big Shellbark. King Nut.

[Illustration: Fig. 177]

Leaves 15′—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. Fruit solitary 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; nut ellipsoidal or slightly obovoid, longer than

broad or sometimes broader than long, flattened and rounded at the ends,

or gradually narrowed and rounded at base and 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; seed light 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. Bark 1′—2′

thick, light gray, separating into broad thick plates frequently 3°—4°

long, sometimes remaining for many years hanging on the trunk. Wood

heavy, 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 Nussbaumerii_ Sarg. with leaves like those of _C. 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 between _C. laciniosa_ and _C. ovata_

growing on the bottoms of the Genessee River at Golah, Munroe County,

New York, and believed to be hybrids of these species, are × _C.

Dunbarii_ Sarg.

9. Carya alba K. Koch. Hickory.

[Illustration: Fig. 178]

Leaves glandular, 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. Fruit ellipsoidal or

obovoid, gradually narrowed at the ends, acute at apex, abruptly

contracted toward the base, rarely obovoid with a stipe-like base (var.

_ficoides_ Sarg.), or ovoid with a long acuminate apex (var. _ovoidea_

Sarg.), 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; nut

nearly 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; seed small, 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 scales ovate, 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. Bark ½′—¾′ thick, close,

slightly ridged by shallow irregular interrupted fissures and covered by

dark gray closely appressed scales. Wood very 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. _subcoriacea_

Sarg., 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 Schneckii_ Sarg., believed to be a hybrid of _C. alba_ and _C.

pecan_, has been found at Lawrenceville, Lawrence County, Illinois, and

near Muscatine, Muscatine County, Iowa.

10. Carya leiodermis Sarg.

[Illustration: Fig. 179]

Leaves 12′—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 aments 4′—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. Fruit broadly 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; nut ellipsoidal or slightly obovoid, little

compressed, rounded at the ends, tinged with red, with a shell ⅙′—⅕′

thick; seed small 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. Bark close, 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. _callicoma_ Sarg., 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).

11. Carya pallida Ashe.

[Illustration: Fig. 180]

Leaves 7′—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 and ½′ 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.

Fruit pubescent 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; nut white, 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; seed small 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-buds acute 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. Bark of 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. Wood brown 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.

12. Carya glabra Sweet. Pignut.

_Carya porcina_ Nutt.

[Illustration: Fig. 181]

Leaves 8′—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. Fruit obovoid, 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 from 1/12′—⅛′ in

thickness, opening late by one or two sutures or often remaining closed;

nut obovoid, compressed, without ridges, rounded or slightly obcordate

at apex, gradually narrowed and rounded below, with a hard thick shell;

seed small 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-buds ovoid, acute, light brown, glabrous, ⅓′—½′ long and ⅕′—¼′ in

diameter, the inner scales covered with close pubescence. Bark close,

ridged, light gray. Wood heavy, 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 of _C.

ovalis_ Sarg., especially in the north, properly belongs to _C.

cordiformis_ Schn.

Passing into

Carya glabra var. megacarpa Sarg.

_Carya megacarpa_ Sarg.

[Illustration: Fig. 182]

Leaves 12′—14′ long, with slender glabrous petioles and 5—7 lanceolate

to oblanceolate leaflets long-pointed and acuminate at apex, gradually

narrowed and unsymmetrical at base, finely serrate, glabrous or very

rarely pubescent, often furnished below with small clusters of axillary

hairs, the three upper 8′—10′ long and 1½′—2½′ wide and about twice as

large as those of the lowest pair. Flowers: staminate in slightly

villose aments 2½′—3′ in length, villose, their bract long-pointed,

acuminate, villose, twice longer than the calyx-lobes, stamens 4—6,

anthers yellow, villose above the middle; pistillate in short-stalked

spikes, their involucre only slightly angled, covered with pale yellow

hairs, the bract acuminate, twice longer than the bractlets and

calyx-lobes. Fruit oblong-obovoid with a stipe-like base to

short-obovate and rounded or abruptly cuneate at base, rarely depressed

at apex, slightly flattened, often covered with bright yellow scales,

1′—2′ long, 1′—1½′ in diameter, with a husk ⅛′—⅕′ in thickness, opening

tardily to the middle usually by one or by two sutures, or often

remaining closed; nut broadest toward the rounded apex or oblong and

occasionally acute at apex, gradually narrowed and acute at base, often

compressed, slightly or rarely prominently angled (f. _angulata_ Sarg.),

with a shell ⅛′—⅙′ in thickness; seed small and sweet.

A tree 50°—70° high, with a trunk up to 2° in diameter, stout spreading

and drooping branches, and stout or rarely slender glabrous branchlets,

reddish brown at the end of their first season, becoming dark

gray-brown. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, glabrous, up to ½′ in length, the

inner scales puberulous. Bark close, only slightly ridged, light or dark

gray.

Distribution. Rochester, Munroe County, New York, through southern Ohio

and Indiana to southern Illinois (Tunnel Hill, Johnson County); coast of

New Jersey; District of Columbia and southward to the shores of Indian

River and the valley of the Callusahatchie River, Florida, and through

southern Alabama to western Louisiana; one of the commonest Hickories in

the coast region of the south Atlantic and east Gulf states,

occasionally ranging inland to central and northern Georgia and western

Mississippi.

13. Carya ovalis Sarg.

[Illustration: Fig. 183]

Leaves 6′—10′ long, with slender petioles often scurfy-pubescent early

in the season, soon glabrous, and 7 or rarely 5 lanceolate to

oblanceolate, or occasionally obovate finely serrate leaflets,

long-pointed and acuminate or rarely rounded at apex, cuneate and

unsymmetrical at base, early in the season often scurfy-pubescent and

furnished below with small axillary tufts of pale hairs, soon glabrous,

the upper 6′ or 7′ long and 1½′—2′ wide, and raised on a stalk ¼′—½′ in

length, the lateral sessile, those of the upper pairs as large or

slightly smaller than the terminal leaflet. Flowers: staminate in

puberulous aments 6′—7′ long, pubescent, their bracts twice longer than

the ovate acute calyx-lobes; stamens 4, anthers yellow, thickly covered

with pale hairs; pistillate in 1 or 2-flowered spikes, obovoid, more or

less thickly covered with yellow scales. Fruit ellipsoidal, acute or

rounded at apex, rounded at base, puberulous, 1′—1¼′ long, about ¾′ in

diameter, with a husk 1/12′—1/10′ in thickness, splitting freely to the

base; nut pale, oblong, slightly flattened, rounded at base, acute or

acuminate and 4-angled at apex, the ridges extending for one-third or

rarely for one-half of its length, with a shell rarely more than ⅕′ in

thickness; seed small and sweet.

A tree sometimes 100° high, with a tall trunk occasionally 3° in

diameter, small spreading branches forming a narrow often pyramidal

head, and slender lustrous red-brown branchlets marked by pale

lenticels, often slightly pubescent when they first appear, soon

glabrous. Winter-buds ovoid, obtuse, acute or acuminate; the terminal

often ½′ long and twice as large as the lateral, the outer scales

red-brown, lustrous and glabrous, the inner covered with close pale

tomentum. Bark slightly ridged, pale gray, usually separating freely

into small plate-like scales, or occasionally close. Wood heavy, hard

and tough, flexible, light or dark brown, with thick lighter-colored

sapwood; used for the handles of tools, in the manufacture of wagons and

agricultural implements, and largely for fuel.

Distribution. Hillsides and rich woods; western New York, eastern

Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia to southern Illinois and

central Iowa (Ames, Story County), and southward to the mountains of

North Carolina and Tennessee, and to central Georgia and Alabama;

usually rare and local; most abundant and generally distributed in

Indiana. With its varieties usually but incorrectly called “Pignut.”

The following varieties differing in the shape of their fruit are

distinguished:

Carya ovalis var. obcordata Sarg.

_Carya microcarpa_ Darling. in part.

_Hicoria microcarpa_ Britt. in part.

[Illustration: Fig. 184]

Fruit subglobose to short-oblong or slightly obovoid, 1′—1¼′ in

diameter, with a husk 1/12′—⅛′ in thickness, splitting freely to the

base or nearly to the base by often narrow-winged sutures; nut much

compressed, slightly angled and often broadest above the middle, rounded

and usually more or less obcordate at apex, narrowed and rounded at

base.

Distribution. Southern New England to southern Wisconsin, southwestern

Missouri, western North Carolina, central and eastern Georgia, eastern

Mississippi and central Alabama; the common and most widely distributed

northern variety of _Carya ovalis_; common in the mountain districts of

central Alabama; varying to the f. _vestita_ Sarg. with stouter

branchlets covered during their first year with rusty tomentum and more

or less pubescent in their second and third seasons, leaflets slightly

pubescent below, and with more compressed nuts and puberulous

winter-buds. A single tree near Davis Pond, Knox County, Indiana.

Carya ovalis var. odorata Sarg.

_Carya microcarpa_ Darling. in part.

_Hicoria microcarpa_ Britt. in part.

_Hicoria glabra_ var. _odorata_ Sarg. in part.

[Illustration: Fig. 185]

Fruit subglobose or slightly longer than broad, much flattened, ½′—⅗′ in

diameter, with a husk not more than 1/24′ in thickness, splitting freely

to the base by sutures sometimes furnished with narrow wings; nut

compressed, rounded at apex, rounded or acute at base, slightly or not

at all ridged, pale or nearly white, with a shell 1/12′ or less in

thickness.

Distribution. Southern New England, eastern Pennsylvania and the

District of Columbia to western New York, and southeastern Ontario, and

through Ohio and Indiana to southern Illinois; near Atlanta, Georgia,

and Starkville, Oktibbaha County, Mississippi; less variable in the size

and shape of the fruit than the other varieties of _C. ovalis._

Carya ovalis var. obovalis Sarg.

_Hicoria glabra_ Sarg. in part.

[Illustration: Fig. 186]

Fruit more or less obovoid, about 1′ long and ⅘′ in diameter, with a

husk 1/12′—⅛′ thick, splitting freely to the base.

Distribution. Southern New England to Missouri and northern Arkansas; on

the mountains of North Carolina, on the coast of Georgia and in north

central Alabama. The common “Pignut” in the middle western states,

varying to f. _acuta_ Sarg. with nuts pointed at the ends and closer

bark; only near Rochester, Munroe County, New York.