14-50 



ARBORETUM AND FKUT1CETUM. 



PART III. 



finally form a very good and durable broom. The nuts, he adds, 



are very small, and extremely hard. 



Description, $c. The pig-nut hickory is a lofty tree, 70 ft. or 80 ft. high, 

 with a trunk from 3 ft. to 4 ft. in diameter. In winter, when stripped of its 

 leaves, it is easily known by the shoots of the preceding summer, which are 





brown, less than half the size of those of C. alba and C. tomentosa, and ter- 

 minated by small oval buds. C. porcina has scaly buds, which are more than 

 1 in. in length before they unfold. The inner scales, which are large and 

 reddish, do not fall off till the leaves are 5 in. or 6 in. long. The leaves 

 generally consist of three pairs 

 of leaflets, and an odd one. 

 The leaflets are 4 in. or 5 in. 

 long, acuminated, serrated, 

 nearly sessile, and glabrous on 

 both sides. On vigorous trees \ > ,- \ 

 which grow in shady exposures 

 the petiole is of a violet colour. 

 The catkins are about 2 in. 

 long, smooth, flexible, and pen- 

 dulous. The female flowers 

 are greenish, and situated at 

 the extremity of the shoots : 

 the fruit which succeeds them 

 is frequently produced in pairs. 

 The husk is thin, of a beautiful 

 green ; and, when ripe, it opens 

 through half its length for the 

 passage of the nut, which is 

 small, smooth, and very hard, 

 on account of the thickness 

 of the shell. The kernel is 

 sweet, but meagre, and difficult to extract, from the firmness of the partition. 

 These nuts, in America, are never carried to market, but serve for food for 

 swine, racoons, and numerous squirrels which people the forests. (Micfi.r. 

 N. Amer. Syl.,i. p, 169.) This tree is found in the middle, western, and 

 southern states, on the borders of swamps, and in places which are wet, 

 without being marshy. It has been observed, that the mocker-nut is always 



