90. CARYA TOMENTOSA, NUTT. MOKERNUT HICKORY. 33 



90. CARYA TOMENTOSA, NUTT.* 

 MOKERNUT HICKORY, f 



Ger., Weichhaarige Hickory, Fr., Noyer laineux ; Sp., Nogal velloso. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. Leaves and young shoots tomentose throughout (except- 

 ing the upper surfaces which are nearly glabrous), resin-scented, with 7 to 9 (rarely 

 some it- aves with 5) ovate to lance-obovate, nearly sessile pointed leaflets. Flowers, 

 stamiuate catkins in threes on a common peduncle at the base of the shoots of the 

 season, middle lobe of the staminate calyx at least twice as long as the two lateral 

 broader ones. Fruit globular or ovoid with very thick epicarp splitting freely nearly 

 or quite to the base; nut 4-ridged or angled especially towards the summit, not much 

 compressed, brownish, with very thick hard shell and delicious kernel; bark of trunk 

 close (not shaggy). 



(The specific name, tomentota, is from the Latin tomentum, a stuffing as of hair.) 



A. fine large tree sometimes attaining the height of 100 ft. (33 m.) and 

 3 or -4 ft. (1m.) or more in diameter of trunk, with full rounded or ovoid 

 top and gray bark of trunk furrowed longitudinally with firm close scaly 

 ridges. 



HABITAT. From the valley of the St. Lawrence and southern Ontario 

 westward to Xebraska and Kansas, and southward to the Gulf especially 

 common along the sea-board and in the south, growing on rich uplands 

 and slopes. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood very heavy, hard, strong, flexible and 

 tough, of a rich reddish-brown color and abundant creamy-white sap- 

 wood. Specific Gravity, 0.8218; Percentage of Ash, 1.00 ; Relative Ap- 

 proximate Fuel Value, O.S131; Coefficient of Elasticity, 11-1995 ; Modulus 

 of Rupture, 1129; Resistance to Longitudinal Pressure, 593; Resistance 

 of Indentation, 277; Weight of a Cubic Foot in Pounds, 51.21. 



USES. A. very valuable timber for the manufacture of ax-helves and 

 tool-handles generally, spokes of wheels, agricultural implements, etc., 

 where toughness and strength are required. It is also very excellent for 

 fuel. The nuts of this tree constitute an important item of its value, as 

 they arc delicious and find a ready sale in market. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES. The leaves of this tree, in common with 

 other Hickories, are somewhat aromatic and astringent, and the bark 

 astringent and bitter. The inner bark chewed has been known to give 

 great relief in dyspepsia, and a tincture has been used with great success 

 in the treatment of intermittent fever. J 



* Hicoria rilb-A (L.), Britt. 



t Commonly written " Mockernut," -which Prof. X. L. Britten tells m9 ehonlJ be " Mokernut," 

 from a Dutch word meaning hammer and applied to this nut on. account of its being so hard as to 

 require a hammer for cracking it. 



J U. S. Dispensatory, 16th ed., p. 1744. 



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