37. CAEYA AMARA BITTER-NUT HICKORY. 27 



37. CARYA AMARA, NUTT. 



BITTER-^UT HICKORY, SWAMP HICKORY. 

 G-er., Bittbrffuchtige Hickory ; Fr., Noyer amer ; Sp., Nogal amargo. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. Leaflets 7-11, sessile (excepting the odd terminal one, 

 which is subsessile), ovate or oolong-lanceolate, taper-pointed, serrate, smooth both 

 sides, though pubescent, as with the catkins, when young ; bud-scales, about 6, 

 orange-yellow, valvate and falling away early. Fruit subglobose with thin epicarp, 

 sutures prominent above, valves united below; nut subglobose or somewhat obcor- 

 date, white, smoothish, and shell so thin that it can be broken with the fingers; ker- 

 nel intensely bitter. 



(" Amara" is the Latin for bitter.) 



A graceful tree resembling the Ash. somewhat in its fine-cut foliage, and 

 a conspicuous feature at all seasons is its orange-yellow buds. The bark is 

 of a gray color, with a faint yellowish tinge, and is cleft longitudinally, 

 but the outer layer adheres closely i. e., does not become shaggy as in 

 the Shag-bark Hickory. It sometimes attains 80ft. (24m.) in height 

 and 3 ft. (0.90 m.) in diameter of trunk. 



HABITAT. Eastern United States, generally preferring swamps and 

 moist flat-lands, though not wholly confined to such localities. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood heavy, hard, strong and flexible, of a 

 brownish color, with light sap-wood, liable to check in seasoning. Spe- 

 cific Gravity, 0.7552; Percentage of Ash, 1.03; Relative Approximate 

 Fuel Value, 0.7474 ; Coefficient of Elasticity, 102986 ; Modulus of Rup- 

 ture, 1101 ; Resistance to Longitudinal Pressure, 522 ; Resistance to In- 

 dentation, 242 ; Weight of a Cubic Foot in Pounds, 47.06. 



USES. The timber is inferior to that of the Shag-bark, but, like it, 

 used in the manufacture of agricultural implements, tool-handles, etc., 

 and for hoops, ox-yokes, etc. The nuts are practically useless too bit- 

 ter for even squirrels to eat when other food can be found. In early days 

 it is said that an oil expressed from the kernel was used to some slight 

 extent for illuminating purposes. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES. For mention of these, in common with those 

 of the other Hickories, see (under Shell-bark H.) page 26. 



ORDER CUFUIjIFERJE : OAK FAMILY. 



Leaves alternate, simple, straight-veined; the stipules, forming the bud-scales, decid- 

 uous. Flowers monoecious, apetalous. Sterile flowers in clustered or racemed catkins 

 (or in simple clusters in the Beech); calyx regular or scale-like; stamens 5-20. Fertile 

 flowers solitary, clustered or spiked, and furnished with an involucre which forms a 

 cup or covering to the nut; calyx-tube adherent to the ovary, its teeth minute and 

 crowning the summit; ovary 2-7-celled with 1-2 pendulous ovules in each cell, but all 

 of the cells and ovules, except one, disappearing before maturity; stigmas sessile. 

 Fruit a 1-celled, 1-seeded nut, solitary or several together, and partly or wholly cov- 

 ered by the scaly (in some cases echinate) involucral cup or covering; seed albumen-- 

 less, with an ariatropous, often edible, embryo; cotyledons thick and fleshy. 



Represented by both trees and shrubs. 



