408 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



BITTERNUT 

 Swamp Hickory. 



Carya cordiformis (Wang.) K. Koch. 

 C. amara Nutt. ; Hickoria minima (Marsh.) Britton. 



HABIT A tall tree 50-75 ft. in height, with a trunk diameter of 

 1-2^ ft.; trunk generally early developing several stout ascending 

 and somewhat diverging branches to form a broad spreading head 

 generally widest toward the top. 



BARK Thin, light gray, close, with shallow fissures and narrow 

 ridges rarely flaking off in small thin scales. 



TWIGS Slender, buff or gray or reddish, smooth or slightly downy 

 toward apex, generally yellow-glandular above. LENTICELS more or 

 less distinct, pale, numerous, longitudinally elongated. PITH infre- 

 quently star-shaped, brown. 



LEAF-SCARS Alternate, more than 2-ranked, obscurely 3-lobed, 

 heart-shaped, inversely triangular, to elliptical, pale, raised, large, 

 prominent, the upper margin generally rounded, convex to sharp- 

 pointed, often 2-toothed at apex. BUNDLE-SCARS prominent, irregu- 

 larly scattered or collected into 3 more or less regular groups or 

 sometimes apparently in single curved line. 



BUDS Slender, strikingly yellow with crowded glandular dots, 

 slightly hairy between the scales; terminal bud 5-15 mm. long, flattened, 

 obliquely blunt-pointed; lateral buds more or less 4-angled, the axillary 

 bud generally minute with one or more larger superposed buds above 

 it, often considerably separated from each other, the uppermost of the 

 series stalked or developing into a twig the first season. BUD- 

 SCALES 4, valvate in pairs. 



FRUIT Nearly spherical to pear-shaped 2-3.5 cm. long, generally 

 4-winged from the apex to about the middle; husk about 1 mm. 

 thick, yellow glandular-dotted, tardily splitting to about the middle 

 into 4 valves. NUT usually thin-shelled, sometimes broader than 

 long, smooth, short-pointed; seed deeply and irregularly roughened, 

 sweetish at first, becoming intensely bitter. 



COMPARISONS The Bitternut is not to be confused with any other 

 tree if due notice is taken of the narrow bright yellow, glandular- 

 dotted often superposed buds. The Butternut has superposed buds but 

 they are pale greenish-yellow and very downy, not bright yellow nor 

 glandular dotted and the pith though similarly brown is distinctly 

 chambered. 



DISTRIBUTION In varying soils and situations; wet woods, low, 

 damp fields, river valleys, along roadsides, occasional upon uplands 

 and hill slopes. From Montreal west to Georgian bay; south to Florida, 

 ascending 3,500 feet in Virginia; west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, 

 Indian Territory, and Texas. 



IN NEW ENGLAND Maine southward, rare; New Hampshire 

 eastern limit in the Connecticut valley, where it ranges farther north 

 than any other of our Hickories, reaching Well's river; Vermont 

 occasional west of the Green mountains and in the southern Connecti- 

 cut valley; Massachusetts rather common, abundant in the vicinity 

 of Boston; Rhode Island common. V 



IN CONNECTICUT Occasional. 



"WOOD Heavy, very hard, strong, tough, close-grained, dark brown, 

 with thick light brown or often nearly white sap wood; largely used 

 for hoops and ox-yokes and for fuel. 



