JUGLANDACEAE 



BiTTERNUT Hickory 



Carya cordiformis (Wang.) K. Koch [Hicoria 



cordiformis (Wang.) Britt.] 



HABIT. A tree 50-75 feet high and 1-2 feet in diameter 

 (max. 100 by 3 feet); broad, open crown with slender ascend- 

 ing branches. 



LEAVES. 6-10 inches long with 7-11 leaflets; leaflets lanceo- 

 late to oblong-lanceolate, the terminal 3-6 inches, slightly 

 larger than lateral, finely to coarsely serrate margins, bright 

 green and glabrous above, paler below. 



FRUIT. Subglobose; about 1 inch long; husk thin (less 

 than Yq inch) with yellow-green, scurfy pubescence, splitting 

 half way to base; 4-winged above middle; nut smooth, thin- 

 shelled, bitter. 



TWIGS. Rather stout; green to gray-brown. Winter buds: 

 terminal V3-/4 inch long, flattish, long-pointed, sulfur-yellow, 

 scurfy-pubescent, with valvate scales. 



BARK. Thick, firm, gray, with shallow furrows and ridges. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Adapted to variety of sites; 

 the most abundant and uniformly distributed of the hickories; 



with mixed hardwoods. 



* * * 



There are three other native species of "pecan hickories:" 

 Pecan, Carya illinoensis (Wang.) K. Koch {Carya pecan Engl. 

 & Graebn.), famed for its nuts, is the largest of the hickories 

 (max. 180 by 6 feet). This species is characterized by having 

 9-17 lanceolate, usually falcate leaflets; fruit ellipsoidal, l-2Vi 

 inches long, with thin dark brown husk, splitting from apex 

 to base; nut nearly smooth with sweet seed; and buds V^-Yz 

 inch long, yellow-brown, and scurfy. The Mississippi River 

 Valley from southern Wisconsin to Texas and Alabama and 

 widely planted through the South. 



* 9|c :ic 



Water Hickory, Carya aquatica (Michx.) Nutt., is similar to 

 pecan but diff'ers in having a smaller {XVz inches long) fruit, with 

 a thin nearly black, husk that splits half way to the base and 

 an obovoid, 4-ribbed nut with a bitter seed. In swamps from 



Virginia to Texas and north to Illinois. 



* * * 



Nutmeg Hickory, Carya myristicaeformis (Michx.) Nutt., is a 

 rather rare tree with 5-9 ovate-lanceolate leaflets and an ellip- 

 soidal, 4-winged fruit 1 Vi inches long, with a very thin husk 

 that splits to the base. In swamps or moist sites from South 

 Carolina to Oklahoma and south to Alabama and Texas. 



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