WALNUT FAMILY 



Wood. Dark brown, sapwood nearly white ; heavy, hard, strong, 

 close-grained, tough, elastic. Confounded commercially with that 

 of the Shellbark hickories. Sp. gr., 0.8218 ; weight of cu. ft., 51.21 

 Ibs. 



Winter Buds. Terminal buds one-half to three-fourth of an inch 

 long, broadly ovate, acute or obtuse, two or three times as large as 

 the axillary bud. The three or four outer scales are ovate, acute, 

 often keeled, dark reddish brown and often fall late in autumn or 

 early winter. The innermost scales enlarge when spring growth 

 begins becoming one and a half inches long and half an inch wide, 

 ovate, pale green without and bright red within, downy, persist until 

 the leaf is half grown. 



Leaves. Alternate, compound, eight to twelve inches long. Leaf- 

 lets seven to nine, oblong-lanceolate or obovate-lanceolate, equally 

 or unequally rounded or wedge-shaped at base, serrate, acute or 

 acuminate. Usually sessile except the terminal leaflet which is de- 

 current on a short stalk. Upper leaflets five to eight inches long. 

 Leaflet vernation involute. They come out of the bud thin, pale 

 yellow green, downy ; when full grown are dark yellow green, shin- 

 ing above, pale green or orange or brown and downy beneath ; mi- 

 drib stout, prominent. In autumn they turn a clear or rusty yellow. 



Flowers. May, when leaves are half grown. Monoecious. Stam- 

 inate flowers are borne in triple catkins, four to five inches in length, 

 slender, green, hairy. Bracts ovate-lanceolate, hairy, longer than 

 the yellow green calyx. Stamens four ; anthers bright red. Pistil- 

 late flowers in two to five-flowered tomentose spikes. Anterior bract 



longer than the bractlets and calyx- 

 lobe. Stigmas dark red ; begin to 

 wither before the anthers shed their 

 pollen. 



Fruit. Spherical, oblong or ob- 

 ovate, dark reddish brown, one and 

 one-half to two inches long ; husk 

 splitting to middle or nearly to base. 

 Nut spherical or oblong, often long- 

 pointed, four-ridged toward the apex, 

 pale reddish brown, with very thick 

 hard shell and very small sweet ker- 

 nel. October. 



Distinguish ing Characters . 

 Buds large, bud scales imbricate. 

 Staminate catkins borne on branches 

 of the year, Leaflets seven to nine, 

 oblong-lanceolate or obovate-lanceo- 

 late, more or less tomentose on un- 

 der surface, fragrant. Fruit with- 

 out or with obscure sutural ridges ; nut globose, or oblong often 

 long-pointed. Four-ridged toward apex, thick-shelled, reddish 

 brown ; kernel sweet. 



288 



Mockernut, Hicoria alba. 

 to 2' long. 



Fruit 



