74 



to obovoid, 15-30 mm. long, compressed, generally about 20 per cent 

 wider than thick, usually rounded at the base, generally slightly 

 obovoid with the apex rounded, or obcordate; a common form has 

 the four sides rounded, as wide as long or almost so, with the ends 

 abruptly rounded so as to appear almost truncate, the elliptic form with 

 both ends pointed is our rarest and smallest form; the surface on all 

 forms is quite smooth, except the elliptic forms which have the angles 

 usually extending from the tip to the base, on other forms the nuts are 

 usually not prominently angled and on some the angles are very obscure 

 except at the apex; shell usually thin, 1-1.5 mm. thick; kernel sweet; 

 wood and uses the same as that of the shellbark hickory. 



Sargent 1 has described five varieties of this species, three of which 

 he credits to Indiana. The writer has sent him specimens from over 

 100 trees of this species, and he has variously distributed them to the 

 type and varieties. Heimlich has reported Sargent's determination of 

 many of these specimens in the Proc. Ind. Acad. Science, 1917:436-439: 

 1918. The writer cannot agree with the determinations and believes 

 further field study is necessary to discover characters by which the 

 several forms can consistently be divided. 



To stimulate the study of this species, the original description of the 

 varieties together with Sargent's characterization of the type are quoted 

 because they are contained in a book not usually found in libraries. 

 To these descriptions are added new characters which Sargent gives in 

 his revision of the hickories in Bot. Gaz. 66:245-247:1918. 

 Gary a ovalis (type). 



"In the shape of the fruit and in the thickness of its involucre this 

 tree is of four distinct forms; in all of them the involucre splits freely 

 to the base, or nearly to the base, the shell of the nut is thin and the 

 seed, although small, is sweet and edible. The extremes of these forms 

 are very distinct, but there are forms which are intermediate between 

 them, so that it is difficult to decide sometimes to which of the forms 

 these intermediate forms should be referred. The first of these forms, 

 as the fruit agrees with Wangenheim's figure, must be considered the 

 type of the species. The fruit is oval, narrowed and rounded at the base, 

 acute at the apex, usually from 2.5-3 cm. long and about 1.5 cm. in 

 diameter. The involucre is fr6m 2-2.5 mm. thick and occasionally one 

 of the sutures remains closed. The nut is oblong, slightly flattened, 

 rounded at the base, acute or acuminate and four-angled at the apex, 

 the ridges extending for one-third or rarely for one-half of its length, 

 from 2-2.5 cm. long and about 1.5 cm. in diameter. The shell is usually 

 about 1 mm. thick." "The type of this species and its varieties have 

 glabrous or rarely slightly pubescent leaves, with usually 7 thin leaflets." 



iTrees and Shrubs 2:208-209:1913 and Bot. Gaz. 66:247:1918. 



