174 SYLVA AMERICANA. 



hickories. Each leaf is composed of seven or eight pair of 

 sessile leaflets, and terminated by a petiolated odd one. The 

 leaflets are from two to three inches in length, lanceolate, serrate 

 and slightly downy. The barren flowers stand on large cylindrical 

 aments, which are single, four or five inches long, and attached 

 to the shoots of the preceding year ; the fertile flowers, on the 

 contrary, come out on the shoots of the same spring, and are 

 situated at the extremity. The ovarium is crowned by two 

 rose-colored stigmas. The fruit is commonly single, and 

 suspended by a thin, pliable peduncle, about three inches in 

 length ; its form is oblong-oval without any appearance of seam. 

 It is often two and a half inches in length, and five inches in 

 circumference, and is covered with a viscid adhesive substance, 

 composed of small transparent vesicles, which are easily discerned 

 with the aid of a lens. The nuts are hard, oblong, rounded at 

 the base, and terminated at the summit, in an acute point ; the 

 surface is very rough, and deeply and irregularly furrowed. 

 They are ripe from the middle to the end of September, a 

 fortnight earlier than the other species of w T alnut. The kernel 

 is thick and oily, and soon becomes rancid ; hence, doubtless, 

 are derived the names of Oil nut and Butternut. 



The black walnut and butternut, when young, resemble each 

 other in their foliage, and in the rapidity of their growth ; but 

 when arrived at maturity, their forms are so different, as to be 

 distinguishable at first sight. Remarkable peculiarities are also 

 found, on examining their wood, especially when seasoned ; the 

 black walnut is heavy, strong, and of a dark brown color ; while 

 the butternut is light, of little strength, and of a reddish hue ; 

 but they possess in common, the great advantage of durability, 

 and of being secure from the annoyance of worms. From its 

 want of solidity and from the difficulty of procuring pieces of 

 considerable length, the timber of the butternut is seldom used 

 in the construction of houses. As it long resists the effects of 

 heat and moisture, it is esteemed for the posts and rails of rural 

 fence. For corn shovels and wooden dishes, it is preferred to 

 the red-flowering maple, because it is lighter and less liable to 

 split. In Vermont, it is used for the panels of coaches and 



