THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, BICKORIES, ETC. 229 



Hickory or Shagbark. Tlie hickory, sometimes called 

 Caryaalba. shagbark or shellbark, is ;i tall, 



spreading tree <<> to 90 and occa- 

 sionally, in the forest, 120 feet high. It usually has a 

 straight trunk with gray bark loosely attached, which 

 hangs in strips nearly a foot long and six inches wide ; 

 the ends of these strips frequently curve away from 

 the trunk, and give it the rugged appearance which 

 accounts for the name " shagbark." The younger 

 brandies are smooth and light gray. As a rule, 

 there are but five sharp-toothed leaflets on a stem 

 (sometimes there are seven), and these are from four 

 to eight inches long; they are rather thin, and dark 

 yellowish green ; the leaf stem is rough, and some- 

 what enlarged at the base. The fruit, which is ripe 

 in October, has a thick, hard husk, which splits into 

 four separate sections ; the whitish nut, slightly flat- 

 tened at the sides, has a thin wall, and a large, bwi 

 kernel which I consider superior in flavor to any 

 other American nut. 



This hickory is the commonest of the species in 

 the North; it extends from Maine to central Minne- 

 sota and southeastern Nebraska; southward it fol- 

 lows along the Alleghany Mountains (on their west- 

 ern slopes, and in the Ohio basin it attains its largest 

 size), and reaches its limit in western Florida and 

 Texas. 



