THE HICKORIES MISCELLANEOUS. 69 



PIG NUT (Hicoria glabra Britton; Carya porcina Nnttall). 



* 



(Synonyms: Brown Hickory, Switchbud Hickory, Bitter Hickory, Broom Hickory.) 



Bark close. Leaflets 5 to 9. In form the nut is without angles, generally com- 

 pressed, sometimes roundish, sometimes pear-shaped, and often depressed at the tip. 

 (PI. 12, figs. 4-G.) The kernel is generally small aiid as a rule is bitter and unedible. 

 The involucre or hull of the nut is thin, not splitting freely to the base. It grows 

 on hills and uplands from southern Maine to Florida, westward to Minnesota, eastern 

 Nebraska, and Texas. There are trees of this species, however, that yield nuts 

 having plump, sweet kernels and thin shells. One such is illustrated in pi. 12, fig. 4. 

 It was sent to the Department by G. B. Brackett, of Denmark, Iowa, in whose honor 

 we have named it Brackett. He wrote under date of November 1, 1890: "The nuts 

 are a wonderful example of what nature is doing, unaided by man, in the develop- 

 ment of higher forms from lower. In this case perfection has been reached in 

 reducing the thickness of the shell to a minimum." The nuts of this variety are 

 above medium in size, smooth, without angles, and are compressed at the sides and 

 at the base, and are of grayish-white color. The shell is very thin, so that with two 

 in the hand the shell of one or both is readily crushed with 'pressure. The kernel 

 is large and full, and in flavor resembles closely R. ovata, but in color of surface is 

 more like the bitternut, H. minima. In cracking it separates readily into halves clear 

 from the shell. 



0. S. Sargent adds two botanical varieties, H. glabra, var. odorata, and R. glabra, 

 var. villosa. 1 The former agrees with Hicoria microcarpa Britton ; Carya microcarpa 

 Nuttall. The latter is common on dry, flinty hills in the neighborhood of Allenton, 

 Mo., and has remarkably small buds. 



NUTMEG HICKORY (Hicoria myristicarformis Britton ; Carya myristicaiformis Nuttall). 



This is a close-barked tree that grows in small areas of South Carolina and in 

 tne valley of the Arkansas River. The hull is somewhat rough. The nut is smooth 

 and lined with streaks of white, in form and color resembling the nutmeg, but the 

 specimens we have seen are much smaller. The shell is extremely thick and the 

 kernel correspondingly small and valueless though sweet. 



BITTERNUT (Hicoria minima Britton; Carya amara Nuttall). 

 (Synonyms: Swamp Hickors', Sprignnt [local].) 



Bark close. Leaflets 7 to 9, ovate, lanceolate, minutely glandular, pubescent 

 beneath. Britton says the leaflets of this species are generally smaller at maturity 

 than those of any other Northern species, and to this fact he thinks the name 

 Minima was intended to apply. The hull is thin, and like H. glabra separates but 

 about halfway down the nut instead of in four distinct valves. The shell is thin, so 

 that in some cases it may easily be crushed with the fingers. The kernel is very 

 bitter and valueless. It grows on borders of streams and in swamps, often on ri"' 



uplands. 



WATER HICKORY (Hicoria aquatica Britton; Carya aquatica Nuttall). 



(Synonyms: Swamp Hickory, Bitter Pecan.) 



This tree grows in the low river swamps; it is most common and reaches its 

 greatest development in the bottom lauds of the Lower Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. 

 Leaflets 7 to 13, narrow, and pointed at the apex, margins unequal, slightly pubescent 

 below. The nut is thin shelled, angular, rough; of a dirty-brown color and ugly in 

 appearance. (PL 12, fig. 8.) The kernel is more bitter than that of H. minima. Of 

 no value unless for use as a stock on which to graft the pecan. 



1 Silva North America, Vol. VII, page 167. 



