﻿Trees of New York State l^O 



JUGLANDACEAE 



Carya alba (L.) K. Koch. [Hicoria alba Britt. ; Carva tomeiitosa Xutt.l 



Mockernut 



Habit — A tree usually 50-80 feet iu height ivith a trunk diameter of 2-3 

 feet, under optimum conditions sometimes 100 feet tall. In the forest 

 the crown is narrowly oblong and reduced, extending do-\\ni about half 

 way on the clean, straight bole. Trees in the open usually develop a broad, 

 open, rather ragged crown. 



Leaves — Alternate, very fragrant, odd-pinnately compound, 8-12 inches long, 

 consisting of 7-9 sessile or nearly sessile leaflets arranged in pairs along 

 a rather stout, pubescent, flattened, grooved petiole, the lower pairs grad- 

 ually reduced in size and the terminal leaflet narrowed into a stalk. 

 Leaflets oblong-lanceolate or obovate-oblanceolate, acuminate at the apex, 

 somewhat rounded and inequilateral at the base, serrate, at maturity 

 rather thin, dark gi'een and lustrous above, jjale orange-bro\\"n and 

 pubescent below. 



Flowers — Appearing in May and early June when the leaves are about half 

 groAvn, monoecious, the staminate iu slender, yellowish green drooping 

 catkins 4-5 inches in length which are borne in pedunculate clusters of 3 

 on the gro'O'th of the preceding season or rarely at the base of the growth 

 of the season, the pistillate in terminal, 2-5-flowered spikes capping the 

 growth of the season, the two sorts proximal. Staminat« flowers short 

 pedicellate, pale yellowish green, 1/16-% of an inch long, consisting of 

 an ovate-lanceolate bract and 2 rounded calyx-lobes bearing adaxilly -4 

 stamens. Anthers bright red and nearly sessile. Pistillate flowers about 

 % of an inch long, sessile, consisting of an inferior 1-celled ovarj- sur- 

 mounted by 2 sessile, spreading, dark red stigmas. The ovarj- is invested 

 by the greenish, tomentose, perianth-like involucre. 



rruit- — Ellipsoidal to obovate, 1^/^-2 inches in length, i-channeled from apex 

 to base, at maturity dark reddish brown, lenticeUate, nearly glabrous. 

 Husk thick, splitting to the base. Nut pale reddish brown, very thick- 

 shelled, globose to ellipsoidal but very variable in shape, 4-ridged toward 

 the apex, with small, dark brown, sweet kernel. 



Winter characters — T^\'igs very stout, pale-lenticellate, pubescent, reddish 

 brown turning gray the second season. Leaf -scars inversely 3-lobed, the 

 bundle-scars in marginal clusters. Terminal bud reddish brown or yel- 

 lowish, usually tomentose, %-% of an inch long. Lateral buds much 

 smaller. Mature bark gray, rather thin, shallowly fissured, close-scaly. 



Habitat — A moisture-lo\'ing tree preferring rich, deep-soiled bottom-land 

 woods, more rarely on fertile slopes and hills. 



Range — Massachusetts west through central Xew York and southern Ontario 

 to eastern Kansas, south to Florida and Texas. Zones A and B. 



Uses — Produces the best grade of hickory stock. Wood hard, strong, heavy, 

 tough and elastic, dark brown with thick sapwood. Used similarly as the 

 wood of the other hickories. Xuts occasionally found in the eastern 

 markets. 



