The Trees of Vermont 



47 



BUTTERNUT. 

 I,eaf and fruit, x % 



known. For this purpose they 

 should be gathered early in June 

 and the clammy pubesence remov- 

 ed by plunging them into boiling 

 water and rubbing with a coarse 

 cloth. 



The wood of the butternut is 

 soft and not strong but takes a 

 beautiful, dark polish and is used 

 especially for interior finishings. 



Introduced sjtedes. — The black 

 walnut is occasionally cultivated. 

 It may be transplanted or grown 

 directly from the nuts, and devel- 

 ops rapidly into a beautiful tree, 

 valuable for both its nuts and wood. 



THE HICKORIES 



The hickories are stately trees, quite generally distributed throughout 

 the United States. There are eight species, all peculiar to America, several 

 of which produce edible nuts. Among the latter are the shellbark hickory 

 in the north and the pecan in the south. 



The flowers, arranged in catkins of the two kinds, appear in late spring 

 after the unfolding of the leaves. 



The wood of all these trees is heavy, tough and durable. It is used for 

 axe handles, agricultural implements and in places where strength and 

 elasticity are required it is almost unrivaled. 



The hickories are frequently but erroneously termed "walnuts," in 

 the popular language of New England. The true walnuts of which the 

 butternut and black walnut are the American representatives differ from 

 the hickories, although they are closely related. 



Nut sweet and edible, bark shaggy, leaflets 5 (rarely 7) Shellbark Hickory 



Nut more or less bitter, not edible, bark close. 



Fruit globular, nut thin-shelled, leaflets 7-11 Bitternut Hickory 



Fruit pear-shaped, nut hard-shelled, leaflets 5-7 Pignut Hickory 



SHELLBARK HICKORY (SHAGBARK HICKORY, WHITE WALNUt). HicoHa OVattt 



(Mill. ) Britton, Carya alba Nuttall. 



Two points alone are sufficient to distinguish the shellbark from other 

 hickories ; its dark brown bark scaling off irregularly in long slender strips 

 and its compound leaves rarely consisting of more than five leaflets. This 



