TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 89 



bad. Some of its properties are of considerable medicinal 

 value. The juice also can be used as a black, lustrous varnish 

 similar to that furnished by the related Japanese lacquer tree, 

 he poison sumac is almost exclusively found in swamps. 



. 



WAilP HICKORY. BITTER-NUT. (Plate XXXVIII.) 



Hicbria minima. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Walnut. Head, broad: branches^ 50-75-100 Maine westward and May \ June. 



upright. feet. southward to Fla. Fruit: Se/t. t Oct. 

 and Texas. 



Bark: bright reddish brown; broken into thin, close, flake-like scales. 

 Leaves; compound ; alternate ; odd-pinnate; with slender, sometimes flattened 

 stalks and having from five to nine sessile leaflets ; lanceolate ; pointed at the 

 apex and pointed or blunt at the base ; sharply and coarsely serrate ; glabrous 

 on both sides or very sparingly pubescent underneath. Dark yellow green 

 above, lighter below. Staminate catkins : growing in threes on slender 

 peduncles and having lanceolate bracts ; pubescent. Pistillate flowers : cov- 

 ered with a yellow tomentum. Fruit: with a dark green, rounded husk; soft 

 and thin, with winged edges and splitting when ripe half way to the middle. 

 Nut : whitish ; broader than long ; thin-shelled ; depressed at the top. Ker- 

 nel: very bitter. 



By the swamp borders or in the low, wet woods of many lo- 

 calities this noble tree is plentiful. Its range extends farther 

 northward than that of any other one of the hickories, and it is 

 abundant in Canada. Its rapid growth and broad, shapely head 

 also make it a desirable feature in cultivation. But its fruit is 

 much better to look upon than it is to eat ; it is indeed a " bit- 

 ter-nut." From the accompanying illustration an idea of the 

 exquisite colouring of its foliage can be gained, and it is inter- 

 esting to know that it owes its sunny tint to many small, golden 

 glands that lie on the under surface of the leaflets. 



Commercially Hicoria minima is less valuable than is general 

 with those of its genus. Ox-yokes and hoops are, however, 

 made from its pliable wood, and on the hearth it feeds a quick- 

 snapping, lively flame. 



