JUGLANDACEAE 



Small Pignut Hickory 



Carya microcarpa, Nutt. [Hicoria odorata, (Marsh.} Sarg.] 



[Hicoria microcarpa, (Nutt.) Britt.] [Hicoria 



glabra, v. odorata, Sarg.] 



HABIT. A tree usually 50-70 feet high, with a trunk diam- 

 eter of 1-3 feet; forming an oblong or sometimes rounded crown 

 of slender, spreading 'branches. 



LEAVES. Alternate, compound, 8-12 inches long. Leaflets 

 usually 5-7, the upper 3-6 inches long, 2-2 l / 2 inches broad ; sessile, 

 except the terminal; oblong to ovate-lanceolate, long-pointed; 

 sharply serrate ; thick and firm ; glabrous, dark yellow-green 

 above, lighter beneath. Petioles long, glabrous. Foliage fragrant 

 when crushed. 



FLOWERS. May, after the leaves; monoecious; the stam- 

 inate in pendulous, ternate catkins 3-7 inches long, slender, green- 

 ish, glabrous ; stamens 4, with orange anthers ; the pistillate in 

 2-5-flowered spikes, ^ mcn long; calyx 4-toothed, hairy; corolla 

 o; stigmas 2, yellow. 



FRUIT. September ; subglobose or globose-oblong, less than 

 i inch long, with thin husk splitting nearly to the base; nut 

 obscurely 4-ridged, with thin shell and small, sweet kernel. 



WINTER-BUDS. K-^ inch long, dome-shaped, red-brown, 

 smooth. 



BARK. Twigs greenish, long-hairy, becoming reddish and 

 finally gray; thick, hard and grayish on the trunk, divided by 

 shallow fissures into narrow plates, and more or less shaggy. 



W r OOD. Heavy, hard, strong, tough, close-grained, elastic, 

 dark brown, with thick, whitish sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Confined to the most southern portions 

 of the Lower Peninsula. 



HABITAT. Prefers well-drained slopes and hillsides. 



NOTES. Resembles C. glabra, but the nut is much smaller. 



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