The Trees of Vermont 91 



JUGLANDACEAE 



Bitteruut Hickory 



Carya cordiformis (Wang.) K. Koch [Hicoria minima (Marsh.) 

 Britt.] [Carya amara Nutt.] 



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

 of 1-23/2 feet; forming a hroad cro\Yn of slender, stiff, U})right hranches, 

 widest near the top. 



Leaves. — Alternate, compound, 6-10 inches long. Leaflets 5-11, 

 the upper 4-6 inches long and one-fourth as broad; sessile, except the 

 terminal ; lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, long-pointed ; coarsely ser- 

 rate ; thin and firm ; glabrous, bright green above, paler and more or 

 less downy beneath. Petioles slender, hairy. Foliage fragrant when 

 crushed. 



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

 slightly pubescent, in pendulous, ternate catkins 3-4 inches long, on a 

 common peduncle about 1 inch long; scale 3-lobed, hairy; stamens 4. 

 with bearded, yellow anthers ; the pistillate in 2-5-flowered spikes, Y^ 

 inch long, scurf y-tomentose ; calyx 4-lobed, pubescent; corolla 0; stig- 

 mas 2, greenish. 



Fruit. — October ; obovate to globular, about 1 inch long, coated 

 with yellow, scurfy pubescence, with very tlnn husk splitting half-way 

 to the base, with sutures winged at the top ; nut quite smooth, with 

 thin shell and small, bitter kernel. 



Winter-buds. — Terminal bud about Y^ inch long, long-pointed, 

 flattish, granular-yellow ; lateral buds more or less 4-angled. 



Bark.— -Twigs greenish and more or less downy, becoming brown- 

 ish, and finally grayish ; gray, close, smooth on the trunk, often reticu- 

 lately ridged, but rarely broken into ]:)lates. Plate III. 



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

 brown, with thick, lighter colored sapwood. 



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

 mountains and known in the Connecticut valley as far north as Hart- 

 land. 



Habitat.- — Prefers a rich, loamy soil ; low, wet woods ; along the 

 borders of streams. 



Notes. — The bitternut grows most rapidly of all the hickories, but 

 it is apt to show dead branches. It should be propagated from the 

 seed, as it is not easily transplanted. The yellow buds at once dis- 

 tinguish it from all other hickories. 



