AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Vol. XXII 



AUGUST 1916 



No. 272 



The Hickories 



Identification and Characteristics 

 By Samuel B. Detwiler 



THE hickories are characteristic American trees 

 closely related to the walnuts, with a name derived 

 from the Indian "Pazucohiccora," a dressing eaten 

 with hominy, made from the milk of the pounded 

 hickory nuts. 



" Tough as hickory " is a phrase suggesting the pecu- 

 liar strength and elasticity of the hickory wood. General 

 Andrew Jackson was endearingly called " Old Hickory " 

 by his soldiers because of his tough, unyielding disposition. 

 This nickname may have been bestowed during the war 

 with the Creek Indians in 1813, when he fed his men on 

 hickory nuts over a period when they were short of rations. 

 Twelve kinds of hickory are found in the world, 

 according to Professor Sargent, eleven of them indigenous 

 to the United States, 



east of the Rocky 



Mountains, and one 



Mexican species. 



Some botanists 



recognize fifteen 



members of the hick- 



ory tribe, while 



others consider there 



are but eight distinct 



kinds. Previous to 



the Ice Age, exten- 

 sive forests of hick- 

 ory existed in Green- 

 land and Europe, but 



no hickories are now 



found growing in 



a state of nature 



outside of 



North America. 

 The area in 



which the hickories 



grow covers about 



one-third of the 



United States. The 



various kinds have 



distinct regions for 



their growth, but all 



of the important 



ones may be found 



growing in western 



Tennessee, northwestern Mississippi and eastern Arkansas. 

 The hickories are picturesque members of the forest and 

 have been called " the artist trees." In winter the armor- 

 like bark, gnarled branches and stout twigs suggest tall, 

 well-proportioned athletes of iron strength. In the spring- 

 time the tinted bud scales or dainty leaves and tasselled 

 flowers make these trees as beautiful as many that bear 

 more gorgeous blossoms. The summer foliage casts dense 

 shade and outlines the tops in graceful symmetry. When 

 Nature colors the autumn landscape, the clear yellow of 

 the hickory is conspicuous for a brief time, and, though 

 the leaves are shed suddenly, they retain their bright color 

 long after they fall. It is an old belief that if the hickory 

 leaves are a brilliant yellow in the autumn, the next harvest 



will be a rich one. 



The leaves of the 

 hickories have an 

 alternate arrange- 

 ment and consist of 

 2 to 5 pairs of sep- 

 arate leaflets on a 

 central leaf stem 

 tipped with a single 

 leaflet. The pollen- 

 bearing flowers ap- 

 pear shortly after the 

 leaves. They are 

 greenish scales hang- 

 ing in long, slender 

 chains, three in a 

 cluster, from a com- 

 mon stem attached to 

 the twig at the base 

 of the spring growth. 

 Each scale bears on 

 its lower face from 3 

 to 10 little yellow 

 stamen heads. From 

 2 to 11 flowers are 

 borne in a spike at 

 the tips of the twigs 

 and develop into the 

 fruits. These nut- 

 forming flowers are 

 small and colored 

 451 



LEAF, FLOWER. NUT AND TWIG OF MOCKERNUT HICKORY 



