MASSACHUSETTS FOREST TREES 



BITTERNUT (Hicoria minima Britton) 



INHABITING wet woods near streams and some- 

 times hilly slopes, the Bitternut is common in 

 most sections of Massachusetts. 



Like most of the genus, its trunk tapers gradually 

 to the point of branching and develops a tall cylin- 

 drical head with a breadth of twenty to thirty feet. 

 Commonly it grows to a height of fifty feet and has a 

 trunk diameter of one to two feet. 



The bark on the trunk is granite-gray faintly tinged 

 with yellow and less rough than in most of the species, 

 yet broken into thin, plate-like scales. The 

 new growths are smooth and orange-green 



BITTERNUT HICKORY 

 Leaf and fruit. One-third natural size. 



BITTERNUT 



Winter twig. 



One-half 

 natural ^ze. 



in color. The winter buds are bright yellow, quite 

 different from those of its relatives. 



The leaves are alternate, compound, from six to 

 ten inches long and composed of from seven to eleven 

 leaflets. The individual leaflets are smaller and more 

 slender than in the case of the other species. The 

 fruit is about one inch long and thin-husked, while 

 the nut is usually thin-shelled and brittle and the 

 kernel very bitter. The wood is heavy, hard and strong. 

 It is used in making hoops and ox -yokes and for fuel. 



