54 TREKS OF NEW ENGLAND. 



Bark. Bark of trunk dark ash-gray, uniformly but very 

 coarsely roughened, in old trees smuoth or broken into rough 

 and occasionally projecting plates ; branches gray ; leaf-scars 

 rather prominent; season's shoots smooth or nearly so, pur- 

 plish changing to gray, with numerous dots. 



Winter Buds and Leaves. -- Lateral buds smaller than in 

 C. tomentosa, oblong, pointed ; terminal, globular, with rounded 

 apex; scales numerous, the inner reddish, lengthening to 1 or 

 2 inches, not dropping till after expansion of the leaves. 

 Leaves pinnately compound, alternate, 10-18 inches long ; 

 petiole long and smooth ; stipules none ; leaflets 5-7, opposite, 

 2-5 inches long, yellowish-green above, paler beneath, turning 

 to an orange brown in autumn, smooth on both sides ; outline, 

 the three upper obovate, the two lower oblong-lanceolate, all 

 taper-pointed; base obtuse, sometimes acute, especially in the 

 odd leaflet. 



Inflorescence. May. Sterile and fertile flowers on the same 

 tree, appearing when the leaves are fully grown, sterile at 

 the base of the season's shoots, in pendulous, downy, slender 

 catkins, 3-5 inches long, usually in threes, branching umbel- 

 like from a common peduncle ; scales 3-lobed, nearly glabrous, 

 lobes of nearly equal length, pointed, the middle narrower ; 

 stamens mostly 4, anthers yellowish, beset with white hairs : 

 fertile flowers at the ends of the season's shoots ; calyx 

 4-toothed, pubescent, adherent to the ovary ; corolla none ; 

 stigmas 2. 



Fruit. October. Single or in pairs, sessile on a short, 

 terminal stalk, shape and size extremely variable, pear-shaped, 

 oblong, round, or obovate, usually about 1|- inches in diameter : 

 husk thin, green turning to brown, when ripe parting in four 

 sections to the center and sometimes nearly to the base : nut 

 rather thick-shelled, not ridged, not sharp-pointed : kernel 

 much inferior in flavor to that of the shagbark. 



Horticultural Value. Hardy throughout New England ; 

 grows in all well-drained soils, but prefers a deep, rich loam ; 

 a desirable tree for ornamental plantations, especially in lawns, 

 as the deep roots do not interfere with the growth of grass 

 above them ; ill-adapted, like all the hickories, for streets, as 



