18 



THE COMMERCIAL HICKORIES. 



leaflets are from. 5 to 9 in number, dark green and shiny on the 

 upper side, generally narrow, and sharply toothed. The nut is less 

 than an inch in diameter and is inclosed in a thin, almost papery, 

 husk which splits about two-thirds of the way down and is ridged 

 at the 4 sutures or lines of division. It is smooth and thin shelled, 

 and has a very bitter kernel. 



In form the bitternut is tall and slender with a generally straight 

 bole, which prunes itself more readily than most of the hickories. 

 The sapwood is characteristically narrow, seldom over H inches 



wide or more than 25 

 years old. 



THE TRUE HICKORIES. 



SHAGBABK. 



Among the true hicko- 

 ries the common shagbark 

 (Hicoria ovata), so called 

 because of its peculiar 

 bark, also known as 

 "scalybark" and "shell- 

 bark," is the most widely 

 known. 



Of all the hickories, the 

 shagbark is the most dis- 

 tinct in its appearance. 

 As its name suggests, the 

 bark is its most charac- 

 teristic feature. It is 

 smooth on small trees and 

 grayish in color, but later 

 scales off. On old trees the bark becomes a dark reddish-brown and 

 hangs on in long loose strips or plates. Different trees display all 

 degrees of shagginess. The closer-barked trees are commonly known 

 as " bastard" shagbarks and are preferred by the spoke and handle 

 maker. 



The foliage is coarse and heavy, and there are 5 broad leaflets. 

 The twigs are coarse, and both twigs and leaf stalks are usually 

 somewhat hairy. The buds are large, and the terminal buds are 

 often half an inch long ; they are acute and covered with dark- brown 

 outer scales. The nuts are the small hickory nuts of commerce and 

 vary considerably in size and thickness of shell. The husk is from 

 one-eighth to three-eighths inch thick, splits to the base, and is some- 

 what depressed along the sutures. 



The shagbark attains large size, and heights of from 130 to 140 

 feet, and diameters of from 20 to 30 inches are fairly common in the 



FIG. 5. Shagbark (Hicoria ovata). Twig, natural size; leaf 

 and fruit, one-third natural size. 



