1442 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



engravings. Gartn. Hem., 2. t. 89.; Michx. Arb., 1. t. o. ; Norlli Amer. Sylva, 1. t. 32. ; and 



ouryig. li!63. 

 Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaflets, in a leaf, l.'J— 15; ovate-lanceolate, serrate ; lateral 

 ones nearly sessile, and somewhat falcate. Fruit oblong, widest above the 

 midille. Frnit and nut each with four angles in its transverse outline. 

 Nut in form and ? size, com[)ared with the fruit of the olive, narrowly ellipti- 

 cal. {Michx. N. A. S.) Native to North America, on the banks of the 

 Ohio, Mississippi, and other rivers in Upper Louisiana ; w here it flowers in 

 April and May. Introduced in 176G. 



Description. In America, this species forms a beautiful tree, with a regular 

 trunk, reaching to the height of 60 ft. or 70ft. The buds, like those of J. nigra 

 antl J. cinerea, are smooth antl uncovered. The leaves are from 1 2 in. to 18 in. 

 in length ; the petioles are 

 somewhat angular ; and the 

 leaflets are sessile, and com- 

 posed of 6 or 7 pairs, ter- 

 minated by a petiolated oild 

 one, which is somewhat 

 smaller than the pair imme- 

 diately preceding it. The 

 leaflets, on flourishing trees, 

 are from 2 in. to 3 in. long ; 

 ovate, serrated, and re- 

 markable for the circular 

 form of the upper edge, 

 while the lower one is less 

 rounded. The main rib is 

 not exactly in the middle 

 of the leaflet. The nuts, 

 which are usually abundant, 

 are contained in a husk 

 from 1 line to 2 lines thick, 

 and have 4 slightly promi- 

 nent angles, which corre- 

 spond to the divisions of the 

 kernel. They vary in length 

 from I in. to U in. ; are 

 pointed at the extremities, 

 of a cylindrical form, and of a yellowish colour, marked at the period of perfect 

 maturity, with blackish or purple lines. The shell is smooth and thin, but too 

 hard to be broken by the fingers. The kernel is full, and, not being divided by 

 ligneous partitions, is easily extracted, and of an agreeable taste. The wood is 

 coarse-grained, and, like that of the other hickories, is heavy and compact, 

 possessing great strength and durability. The nuts, which are very agreeable, 

 are exported to the West Indies, and to the ports of the United States; and 

 Michaux considers them to be more delicately flavoured than any of the nuts 

 of Europe. There are some varieties, he says, the fruit of w liich is far su()erior 

 to that of the European walnut. C. olivaeformis is a native of Upper Louisiana ; 

 and it abounds on the bonlers of the rivers Missouri, Illinois, St. Francis, 

 Arkansas, and Wabash. On the Ohio, it is found for 200 miles from its junc- 

 tion with the Mississippi ; higher than which it becomes rare, and is not seen 

 beyond Louisville, nor beyond the mouth of the Great Mackakity, in hit. 42° 

 51". It grows naturally in cold and wet soils. There is a swamp of 800 

 acres on the right bank of the Ohio, o|)posite to the river Cumberland, called 

 by the French La Pacaniere, which is said to be entirely covered with it. 

 Dumont De (,'ourset, in his Bolatdstv Citltivntcur (vol. vi. p. 237.), .says that 

 his brother, who had served in the army of Washington in 1782, told him 

 that " that celebrated general had always his |)Ockets full of these nuts, and 

 that he was continually eating them." There are trees in France, Michaux 



