THE TREE AND ITS FORMS. 



19 



Cumberland Mountains. In the river bottoms along the Mississippi 

 the trees grow to larger diameters, but the maximum height growth 

 is usually less. One characteristic of the tree is the tendency to fork 

 within the crown into two or three prongs at from one-half to two- 

 thirds the height of the tree. 



The southern shagbark (Ilicoria carolinse septentrionalis) is a re- 

 cently distinguished species of little commercial importance. In 

 contrast with the common shagbark, it has a more slender, graceful 

 habit, slenderer and globulous twigs, smaller, more acute buds, with 

 black outer scales, and leaves with from 3 to 5 leaflets. It is 

 fairly common in a limited range from Delaware to northern Georgia, 

 around the base of the Appa- 

 lachians, and in southern 

 Kentucky. It grows on the 

 lower slopes of the hills, es- 

 pecially on limestone soils, 

 and in the river bottoms. 



BIG SHELLBARK. 



Very similar in appear- 

 ance to the common shag- 

 bark is the big shellbark, 

 or king nut (Hicoria lacini- 

 osa), also known as the yel- 

 low twig, big-fruited shell- 

 bark, and river hickory. 

 Lumbermen rarely differ- 

 entiate between the two 

 species, although they are 

 quite distinct. 



The big shellbark usually 

 has the same scaly bark as 

 the shagbark, though some- 

 times it is firm and strongly 

 ridged, as in the mockernut 

 of the lower Mississippi Valley. The leaves are rather coarser and 

 heavier, and there are commonly 7 and often 9 leaflets. The most 

 important distinguishing features are the large thick-shelled nuts, 

 often 1 inches in diameter, strongly ridged and usually much flat- 

 tened, with husks one-fourth and three-eighths of an inch thick that 

 split all the way to the base and are usually depressed at the sutures, 

 and the stout, buff, or light orange-colored branchlets. These two 

 features distinguish it from any of the other hickories, although 

 occasional hybrids are reported. Another striking feature of the tree 

 is the presence upon the twigs of the previous year's growth of old 



FIG. 6. Big shellbark (Hicoria laciniosa). Twig, natural 

 size; leaf and fruit, one-fourth natural size. 



