746 



HICKORY -XUT 



HICORIA 



Learning.— M.O. A large nut of fine flavor and excellent crack- 

 ing quality, the kernel coming out in unbroken halves. 



Meriden.—Conn. Large, oblong, compressed: kernel large 

 and of good quality: shell rather thick, but cracks well. Fig. 

 1059. 



Jlf(7^or(f. — Mass. A compressed ovate nut, medium to large 

 in size, witli large, plump kernel of excellent quality: cracks 

 well: one of the best nuts yet brought to notice. Fig. 1059. 



1060. Foliage and Distillate flowers of Hicoria Pecan. 



Rice. —Ohio. Angular, ovate, medium to large in size: kernel 

 plump, bright and of fine quality: shell thin and of good crack- 

 ing quality: tree regularly productive. 



Woodbourne.~¥u.. Long, compressed ovate, large and smooth : 

 kernel tender and of very high quality: shell rather thick, but 

 cracks well. 



Pignut: Of the somewhat numerous sweet-flavored forms 

 found in this species, the following one at least has been deemed 

 worthy of perpetuation because of its delicate flavor, thin shell 

 and excellent cracking quality. 



Brackett.— Iowa. Roundish compressed, smooth and of gray- 

 ish color, medium to large in size: kernel plump, sweet and of 

 delicate flavor: shell very thin, and easily freed from the kernel. 

 Wm. a. Taylor. 



HICORIA (from its aboriginal name) Syu., C^rtja. 

 JuglandAcefp. Hickory. Hardy ornamental trees, with 

 rather large, deciduous odd-pinnate Ivs., small green 

 ish fls.,the staminate ones in conspicuous pendulous 

 racemes, and with rather large, green, dehiscent fruits 



enclosing a mostly edible nut. The Hickories are 

 among the most beautiful and most useful trees of the 

 American forest, and are all very ornamental park trees, 

 with a straight, sometimes higti and slender trunk and 

 a large, graceful, pyramidal or oblong head of generally 

 light green foliage, turning from yellow to orange or 

 orange-brown in fall. They are hardy North except ff. 

 Pecan, aquatica and myristic(eformis, but U. Pecan 

 thrives rarely in Massachusetts in sheltered positions. 

 Most of the species have heavy, hard, strong and tough 

 wood, much valued for many purposes, especially for 

 handles of tools, manufacture of carriages and wagons, 

 also for making baskets and for fuel. The nuts of some 

 species, as II. Pecan and JS, ovafa, also H. lariniata and 

 some varieties of H. glabra and ff. aUm are edible, and 

 are sold in large quantities, mostly gathered from the 

 woods, though in later years orchards of improved va- 

 rieties have been planted. A large number of insects 

 prey upon the Hickory, attacking the wood, foliage and 

 tr.. for which see the Fifth Ann. Rep. of the U. S. 

 Eutom. Com., p. 285-329. There are also some fungi, 

 ciusins sometimes an early defoliation of the trees. 



The Hickories generally grow best in rich, moist soil, 

 but some, especially ff. glabra, H. alba and H. 

 ->vafit, grow equally well in drier localities. They are 

 of rather slow growth, and difficult to transplant if taken 

 trom the woods; therefore the seeds are often planted 

 where the trees are to stand, but if grown in the nur- 

 sery and transplanted several times when 

 young, trees 6-10 ft. high may be transplanted 

 fully. Prop, usually by seeds stratified 

 and sown in spring in rows about 3 in. deep; 

 named varieties may be grafted in spring in 

 the greenhouse, on potted stock of H. miui?na^ 

 which seems to be the best species for this pur- 

 pose, veneer- or splice-grafting being usually 

 employed ; sometimes also increased by root- 

 sprouts. For futher horticultural advice, see Hickory- 

 nut and Pecav. 



There are about 10 species of Hickory, all in E. N. 

 America from Canada to Mexico. Branches with solid 

 pith: Ivs. alternate, without stipules, with 3-17 serrate 

 If ts. : fls. monoecious, apetalous, appearing with the Ivs. ; 

 staminate Hs. in axillary, slender, pendulous catkins, each 

 fl. with 3-10 stamens, borne iu the axil of a 3-lobed 

 bract; pistillate fls. in a terminal, 2-10-fld. cluster or 

 spike, consisting of a 1-celled ovary enclosed by a 4- 

 lobed involucre: fr. globular to oblong, with a husk 

 separating into 4 valves and a bony nut, incompletely 

 2-4-celIed. See also Rep. Missouri Bot. Gard. 7, p. 28- 

 42, pi. 1-23. and Rep, of V. S. Dept. of Agric. Div. 

 of Pomol. Nut-Culture ( 189tJ), cited below as U.S.N.C. 

 {the first number referring to the plate, the second and 

 third to the figure). 



A. Scales of buds valvafe, 4-6 : fr. witJi ivinged sutures; 



nnt xisualhj thin-shelled : Ifts. 7-13, usually falcate. 



B. Nut mostly elongated, almost terete: husk thiut 

 splitting to the base: kernel sweet. 



PecAn, Britt. [Cdrya oliv(pf6rmis, Nutt.). Pecan. 

 Fig. 1060. Tall tree, to 170 ft., with the branches pubes- 

 cent when young : bark deeply 

 furrowed, grayish brown: Itts 

 11-17. short - stalked, oblong 

 lanceolate, acuminate, serrate 

 or doubly serrate, tomentose 

 and glandular when young, usu- 

 ally glabrous at length, 4-7 m 

 long: staminate catkins almost 

 sessile : fr. 3-10 in clusters or 

 spikes, oblong, \%-2% in. long, 

 nut ovoid or oblong, smootli, 

 brown, irregularly marked with 

 dark brown, 2-celled at the 

 base; kernel sweet. From Iowa 

 and Ind. south to Alab. and 

 Tex.; also in Mexico. S.S. 7: 

 .338-.39. A.G. 12:273-75. U.S. 

 N.C. 1.8, 9. — This species is the most important as a 

 fruit tree, an 1 many named varieties an- milrivaterl in 

 the southern states, but it is tender North. Tlie wood 

 is less valuable than that of the <>fh<-r sitHrit^s. Hy- 

 brids of this species are known with H. mhiini<i, alba 



1061. One form of Pignut 

 — H. glabra. 

 Natural size. 



