=Distribution.=--Southern Ontario south to the Gulf States and west to
Texas and Iowa. This species is reported for all parts of the State.
However, the records for the northern counties were made when this
species was not separated from _Carya ovalis_, and since the latter
species is quite frequent in the northern counties it is best to refer
the early records to _Carya ovalis_. The most northern station based
upon an existing specimen is the north side of the Mississinewa River
east of Eaton in Delaware County. It is a frequent, common to very
common tree on the hills in the southern part of the State. It has its
mass distribution in the unglaciated part of the State, although it is
locally a frequent to a common tree of the hills of the other southern
counties. It appears that this species has the ability to invade areas
after the virgin forest is cut, and it is not an uncommon sight to see
this species in almost pure stands on the hills of cut-over lands.
=Remarks.=--This species is often called pignut. Sargent wisely suggests
that this name be used exclusively for _Carya cordiformis_. The great
abundance of this species in Brown, Morgan and Monroe Counties has been
instrumental in building up a large business in the manufacture of
hickory chairs and furniture. Frames of furniture are made from the very
young trees, and backs and seats from the bark of old trees, which are
cut, stripped of their bark, and often left to rot.
=6a.= =Carya glabra= variety =megacárpa= Sargent[24]. This variety was
reported for Indiana by Heimlich.[25] His report was based on a specimen
collected by the author in Franklin County. It was named by Sargent who
has a duplicate specimen. Sargent in his revision of the hickories does
not include Indiana in its range. The size of the fruit is the character
that marks the variety and I do not believe this is sufficient to
warrant its separation. I have, therefore, included all Indiana forms
under the type.
=7.= =Carya ovàlis= (Wangenheim) Sargent. Small-fruited Hickory. Plate
28. Medium sized tall trees; bark usually tight on the trunk for a
distance up to 1.5-3 m., then becoming more or less scaly like the
shellbark hickory, on some trees the bark is very thick and is quite
scaly but it does not flake off in thin plates as the shellbark hickory;
twigs purplish or reddish-brown, generally smooth by the end of the
season, generally 3-4 mm. thick near the tip; terminal winter buds
ovoid, 7-10 mm. long, covered with yellow scales and more or less
pubescent; average size leaves 2-3 dm. long; leaflets 3-7, prevailing
number usually 7, sometimes 5, usually lanceolate, frequently oval or
slightly obovate, the terminal 12-21 cm. long, at maturity usually
pubescent beneath in the axils of the veins, more rarely also the veins
covered with hairs; fruit varies greatly in size and shape, the most
common form is obovoid, more rarely oval, or subglobose, 25-42 mm. in
length, granular and covered with yellow scales; husk usually splitting
to the base, although tardily on some, often quite aromatic, dry husk
1.1-3 mm. thick; nut variable in size and shape, from elliptic to
obovoid, 15-30 mm. long, compressed, generally about 20 per cent wider
than thick, usually rounded at the base, generally slightly obovoid with
the apex rounded, or obcordate; a common form has the four sides
rounded, as wide as long or almost so, with the ends abruptly rounded so
as to appear almost truncate, the elliptic form with both ends pointed
is our rarest and smallest form; the surface on all forms is quite
smooth, except the elliptic forms which have the angles usually
extending from the tip to the base, on other forms the nuts are usually
not prominently angled and on some the angles are very obscure except at
the apex; shell usually thin, 1-1.5 mm. thick; kernel sweet; wood and
uses the same as that of the shellbark hickory.
[Illustration: Plate 28.