Water Hickory 



227 



Leaflets 7 to 13, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 8 to 15 cm. long, curved, unequally 

 rounded at the nearly sessile base, taper-pointed, shallowly sharp-toothed on the 

 margin, the terminal leaflet symmetrical, gradually tapering to its stalk; they are 

 hairy at first, becoming thin and firm, dark green and nearly smooth above, pale 

 yellowish green and minutely hairy beneath. The staminate catkins are slender, 

 5 to 1 1 cm. long, nearly sessile, yellowish and hair}^ ; the lobes of the perianth are 

 ovate, sharp-pointed; stamens 6, their anthers notched and hairy. The pistillate 

 flowers are oblong, somewhat 4-angled and hairy. The fruit is in small clusters, 

 oblong or oblong-ovoid, 3.5 to 5 cm. long, compressed, pointed at each end, dark 

 brown, somewhat hairy; its husk is slightly 4- winged at the base, spHtting into 4 

 valves. The nut is oblong-ovoid, a little flattened, pointed at each end, light red- 

 brown, wrinkled, its shell thin, seed bitter and astringent, flattened, grooved and 

 bright brown. 



The wood is tough and strong, close-grained, light bro\vn. The seed is bitter 

 and inedible, so much so, it is said, that even hogs will not eat it. It is also called 

 Thickbark hickory. The foliage of this tree is scarcely to be distinguished from 

 that of the Pecan. 



4. WATER HICKORY Hicoria aquatica (F. A. Michaux) Britten 

 Juglans aquatica F. A. Michaux. Carya aquatica Nuttall 



A species of river swamps and very wet woods from Virginia to Illinois south- 

 ward to Florida and Texas, attaining in its greatest 

 development in the lower Mississippi valley, a 

 height of 30 meters with a trunk diameter of 

 nearly i meter. It is also called the Bitter pecan, 

 Swamp hickor}^, and Water bittemut. 



The branches are mostly upright, forming a 

 narrow tree. The bark is about 18 mm. thick, 

 splitting into long, loose flakes of a light reddish 

 brown color. The twigs are slender, somewhat 

 glandular and hair)', soon becoming smooth or 

 nearly so, reddish brown and finally dark gray, 

 bearing pale lenticels and small leaf scars. The 

 terminal bud is 3 to 6 mm. long, the scales val- 

 vate, covered with pale scattered hairs, or smooth 

 with age; the lateral buds are about half as large. 

 The leaves, are 2 to 3 dm. long, with from 7 to 13 

 leaflets, the leaf-stalk slender, rounded, dark red and slightly hair}'; the leaflets 

 are 7 to 13 cm. long, the lowest little if any shorter than the upper pairs; they 

 are lanceolate, nearly symmetrical, tapering at the usually sessile base, long-pointed 

 at the apex, coarsely toothed on the margin, pale and whitish hair}' when unfold- 

 ing, thin and membranous, dark green and rather shining above, brownish, some- 



FiG. 185. Water Hickory. 



