280 



The Journal of Heredity 



culture, that a species of Carya was defi- 

 nitely located outside of the United 

 States. 



The American Hickory has been one 

 of the most valuable of all our hard 

 wood trees. It is hard to imgaine how 

 our forefathers could have done what 

 they did to develop their country with- 

 out its wonderful timber. It is found 

 wild throuK^hout almost the entire east- 

 em half of the country. 



The Ilick(jry is anions the most 

 beautiful and useful of American forest 

 trees, and makes an exceptionally orna- 

 mental park tree, with its straij:;ht, 

 generally high, and slender trunk. The 

 leaves are light green, changing to 

 vellow or orange and orange-yellow in 

 the fall, and form a graceful head of 

 foliage, generally pyramidal or oblong 

 in shape. The wood is heavy, hard, 

 strong and tough, and is much used for 

 making handles of tools, carriage wheels 

 and similar work requiring a very 

 durable wood. It also makes a fine 

 fuel. The nuts are mostly edible, and 

 orchards are planted to certain species, 

 especially the Pecan (Carya pecan). 



It thrives best in rich, moist soil, 

 although certain varieties do well under 

 drier conditions. It is slow of growth, 

 and difficult to transplant, and hence the 

 seeds are often planted where the tree is 

 desired. The various species can be 

 grafted on each other readily, the 

 Bitternut (C. cordiformis), forming an 

 especially good stock. The tree is some- 

 what subject to attacks by certain 

 insects and fungi. 



CHINESE HICKORY STRIKINGLY SIMILAR 



The Chinese Hickory (C. caihayensis. 

 Fig. 15), recently discovered by Meyer, is 

 a tree of 35 to 60 feet in height, and in 

 every point has been proved to be a true 

 hickory. It is found in Chekiang, and in 

 the mountains around Changhua Ilsien, 

 about 70 miles west of Ilangchou, 

 growing at an elevation of about 400 

 feet above sea-level. The upper sur- 

 face of the leaves has the soft greenish 

 color typical (^f all the Hickories, while 

 the under surface is rusty brown. Due 

 to this peculiar coloration, a group pre- 



sents a reddish-brown blotch of color in 

 the midst of ordinary green vegetation, 

 when the wind blows. The nuts are 

 collected for sale, eaten as a sweetmeat, 

 or made to yield fancy pastries. The 

 wood is very tough and much used for 

 tool handles. The inhabitants realize 

 the \-alue of the tree to them, and hence 

 it is generally spared when firewood is 

 being collected. In a few localities, the 

 mountaineers have even made small 

 ])lantations of this tree near their 

 houses. It thrives best at the foot of 

 mountains and in narrow moist valleys, 

 where it grows in deep rich humus. It 

 loves shelter, and Avhen exposed to 

 much wind is liable to become crippled; 

 nor can it stand much frost. 



Of these three American trees, the 

 Liriodcndron, the Sassafras, and the 

 Carya, fonnerly supposed to be con- 

 fined entirely to North America, each is 

 now found to have a single species exist- 

 ing in China. Why this country, almost 

 at the Antipodes, should be the locality 

 where the only relatives of these trees 

 are found outside of America is a 

 question which is well worthy of con- 

 sideration. 



It has been decided by geologists that 

 China and America were at one time 

 united by land connection and that the 

 present separation has not always 

 existed. Hence, the trees just described 

 probably grew continuously from China 

 to the eastern United States, with but 

 slight difiercnccs between difTercnt local- 

 ities no greater than those now to be 

 found between various parts of the 

 United States. 



When the land connection was 

 severed, conditions were such that the 

 trees became centered in the eastern 

 part of this cotmtry and in localities of 

 similar climatic conditions in China. 

 The growth was now discontinuous, 

 broken by the Pacific Ocean and tlte 

 arid plains of the far west. Under such 

 conditions, the Chinese and American 

 species grew on and. although far apart 

 and subject to difTercnt conditions, 

 remained practically identical through 

 hundreds of generations. In the two 

 widely separated localities, due to their 

 adaptability, these species were able to 



