The Trees of Vermont 85 



JUGLANDACEAE 



Sbellbark Jlickorj. Slia^bark Hickory 



Carya ovata (Mill.) K. Koch [Hicoria ovata (Mill.) Britt.] 



[Carya alba Ntitt.] 



Habit. — A tree 50-75 feet high, with a slender, columnar trunk 

 1-2 feet in diameter; forming a narrow, somewhat open crown of stout, 

 slightly spreading limbs and stout branchlets. 



Leaves. — Alternate, compound, 8-14 inches long. Leaflets usually 

 5, the upper 5-7 inches long and 2-3 inches broad ; sessile, except the 

 terminal ; obovatc to oblong-lanceolate ; finely serrate ; thick and firm ; 

 glabrous, dark green above, paler beneath and glabrous or puberulous. 

 Petioles stout, smooth or hairy. Foliage fragrant when crushed. 



Flowers. — May- June, after the leaves; monoecious; the staminate 

 hairy, greenish, in pendulous, ternate catkins 4-5 inches long, on a 

 common peduncle about 1 inch long; scales 3-parted, bristle-tipped; 

 stamens 4, with bearded, yellow anthers ; the pistillate in 2-5- 

 flowered spikes, y^ inch long, brown-tomentose ; calyx 4-lobed, 

 hairy; corolla 0; stigmas 2, large, fringed. 



Fruit. — October; globular, 1-2 inches long, with thick husk sepa- 

 rating completely ; nut usually 4-ridged, with thick shell and large, 

 sweet, edible kernel. 



Winter-buds. — Terminal bud J/S-M i^^ch long, broadly ovoid, ob- 

 tuse, dark brown, pale-tomentose or nearly glabrous. 



Bark. — Twigs brownish, more or less downy, becoming smooth 

 and grayish ; thick and grayish on old trunks, separating into thick 

 strips 1-3 feet long, free at one or both ends, giving a characteristic 

 shaggy appearance. Plate II. 



Wood. — Heavy, very hard and strong, tough, close-grained, elastic, 

 light brown, with thin, whitish sapwood. Page 229. 



Distribution. — Frecjuent in the lower altitudes west of the Green 

 mountains ; known in the Connecticut valley as far north as Bellows 

 Falls ; a large grove on the south side of Bald Mountain in Shrews- 

 bury at an altitude of about 1,500 feet. 



Habitat. — Prefers light, well-drained, loamy soil ; low hillsides ; 

 river-banks. 



Notes. — The shellbark hickory is one of our most attractive trees. 

 It is known to every boy who lives in its range by its shaggy bark and 

 its excellent nuts. 



