THE HICKORIES 



453 



pear-shaped, light-brown in color, with a smooth shell of 

 variable thickness but usually heavy and hard to crush. 

 The kernels are small, at first with a palatable flavor, but 

 soon becoming strong and somewhat bitter, " fit only for 

 pigs." The husk of the Pignut is thin and leathery, and 

 the four valves do not separate readily from the nut or 

 from each other like the thick " hull " of the Shagbarks. 



Several varieties of Pignut are known to botanists, and 

 one of these varieties is so different that by some it is 

 considered a separate species, by others a cross between 

 the Shagbark and the Pignut. This is the Small Pignut, 

 which ranges from eastern Massachusetts to Maryland, 

 west to Missouri and southern Illinois. It has rough, 

 slightly shaggy bark. The small leaf usually consists of 

 5 leaflets, and the nut is small, thin-shelled and spherical. 



The kernel is 

 sweet, and the thin 

 husk splits to the 

 base. The Pale- 

 leaf Hickory (Hic- 

 oria villosa) , found 

 from New Jersey 

 to Florida and 

 westward to Mis- 

 souri and Texas, 

 was once consid- 

 ered a variety of 

 Pignut, but has 

 some of the charac- 

 teristics of the 

 Mockernut. It is a 

 small tree growing 

 on barren soil. The 

 under surfaces of 

 the leaflets are sil- 

 very, and the bark 

 is deeply furrowed, 

 but not shaggy. 

 The Mockernut, Bigbud or Whiteheart Hickory has 

 bark that is decidedly rough but does not loosen in strips. 

 The color of the bark varies from light to dark gray. 

 Shallow, irregular fissures separate the surface into broad, 

 flat ridges, covered with tight-fitting scales. The Mocker- 

 nut has the stockiest twigs and the largest buds found 

 among the hickories. The leaves are 8 to 12 inches long, 

 with 7 to 9 leaflets, and give forth a pleasant aroma when 

 crushed. The large nuts are globular, or sometimes 

 slightly compressed, with a nearly smooth and very thick- 

 brown shell. It contains a sweet kernel which is so small 

 that it disappoints one who has taken the trouble to crack 

 the heavy shell. Mockernut trees, 150 feet in height and 

 3 feet in diameter, are occasionally found, but the usual 

 size is 50 to 75 feet high with a diameter of less than 2 feet. 

 It grows on ridges or in rich valley soils over the same 

 range as the Pignut and, like the latter, it does not form 

 quite as long or as clean trunks as the Shagbark. 



The hickories which have been described are alike in 

 having nuts with hard, bony shells that are not easily 



From Pennsylvania Trees 



BITTERNUT HICKORY 



From Pennsylvania Trees 



SHAGBARK HICKORY 



broken. Another group of hickories, of which the Pecan 

 and Bitternut are typical, produces nuts with thin, brittle 

 shells. In the first group the winter buds are covered with 

 numerous overlapping scales ; in the second, the scales are 

 in pairs, the edges of which meet like the two halves of a 

 clam shell, to en- 

 close the tender 

 growing point of 

 the bud. It is inter- 

 esting to distin- 

 guish trees in 

 winter by means of 

 their buds, and the 

 hickories offer an 

 exceptional oppor- 

 tunity for this 

 study. The buds of 

 each species are as 

 unlike and as easily 

 distinguished from 

 each other as the 

 fruits and nuts. It 

 is one of the pleas- 

 ures of spring to 

 watch the unfold- 

 ing buds of the 

 Shagbarks. The 

 inner bud scales curl backward and enlarge until they are 

 several inches long, and in their silky texture and 

 gorgeous reddish tints resemble the petals of a flower. 



The Pecan (Hicoria pecan) is distributed from south- 

 ern Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, v/estern Kentucky and 

 Tennessee to central Alabama and westward to southeast- 

 ern Arkansas and central Texas. It is usually found on 

 low, rich ground in the vicinity of streams. The Pecan is 

 the loftiest and most imposing of the hickories, and one of 

 the most beautiful trees of the South, rising to a height of 

 100 to 170 feet, with a maximum diameter of 4 to 6 feet. 

 The trunk is more or less swollen and buttressed at the 

 base, and branches into a broad top which is oval in outline. 

 The leaves are a beautiful, bright yellow-green, 12 to 20 

 inches long, bearing from 9 to 17 leaflets. The nuts are 

 1 to 2 inches long, smooth, reddish and slender, but taper- 

 ing at the ends, and so thin-shelled that they may some- 

 times be crushed with the fingers. The kernel is large 

 and sweet. The thin, dark-brown husk splits into four 

 sections nearly to the base, discharging the nut, and fre- 

 quently remains on the branch during the winter. 



Two trees bear the name of Bitter Pecan. One of 

 these is Hicoria Texana, which grows sparingly over a 

 small area in eastern Texas. It has leaves 10 to 12 inches 

 long with 7 to 11 leaflets. The nuts are oblong, somewhat 

 flattened and the shell is longitudinally grooved and rough- 

 ened. The kernel is very bitter. The other Bitter Pecan, 

 also called Water Hickory, is the least useful member of 

 the family. It grows sparingly in river swamps from 

 southeastern Virginia to Florida and along the coast of 

 the Gulf States to Texas, extending northward through 



