THE WALNUTS AND HICKORIES 



wood burns with such brilliancy or gives out so 

 much heat as the shagbark. The fruit of this 

 tree is edible and sweet, and the nuts have 

 greater commercial value than those of any 

 other hickory. 



The generic name, hicoria, is of Indian ori- 

 gin and comes from powcokicora, the name of 

 an oily emulsion made from the pounded ker- 

 nels of mockernuts by the Virginian Algonkins. 

 Ovata (egg-shaped) refers to the shape of the 

 leaves. 



The shagbark is found from Southern Maine 

 to Florida and westward to Central Kansas. 

 The forests of Indiana, once the centre of the 

 hickory trade, are now exhausted. The hick- 

 ories are confined to Eastern North America 

 alone, and are a genus of rare and very valu- 

 able trees. 



, A tall tree 60 to 100 feet high, 



Mockernut; or 7 J * 



Whiteheart with a lofty nead. Bark smooth, 



Hickory with close, wavy furrows, a 



distinctive characteristic of the 



tree. Large, hard, round duds, without the dark 



outer scales peculiar to the shagbark, but with 



downy, yellowish brown scales. Coarse twigs; 



alternate leaf scars. Nut somewhat hexagonal, 



with a very thick shell, and a hard, thick husk. 



The mockernut is one of the most interest- 



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