ILLINOIS TREES: SELECTION. PLANTING. AND CARE 



65 



Fiff. 63.— The slow- 

 growins shellbark hick- 

 ory is a common forest 

 tree that has limited 

 use for ornamental pur- 

 poses. The compound 

 leaves (inset) have five 

 to seven finely toothed 

 leaflets. 



contains a sweet, edible seed. It is covered by a hard husk, V-^-V-i 

 inch thick, which splits clean of the nut at maturity. The entire 

 fruit is 1-21/2 inches in diameter. The bark on young trees is 

 smooth and gray. On old trees it separates into rough plates 6- 

 8 inches wide and up to 1 foot long with curved tips, presenting 

 a shaggy appearance. 



Big shellbark hickory, with its narrow, oblong crown and 

 short, spreading branches, grows to a height of 50-90 feet, with 

 a branch spread of 25-30 feet. It is more common in southern 

 Illinois on low bottomlands subject to spring overflow of rivers, 

 but occurs as far north as Peoria. The large, compound, alternate 

 leaves are made up of five to nine, usually seven, leaflets and 

 measure 15-20 inches long. The sharply pointed, 5- to 9-inch-long, 

 3- to 5-inch-wide, finely toothed, elliptical leaflets are dark green 

 and lustrous above and soft, hairy, and pale beneath. The flowers 

 are similar to those of shellbark hickory. The hard-shelled, 

 globose, ridged nut contains a chestnut-brown, sweet seed and 

 is covered with a i/4- to i .j-inch-thick husk. The entire fruit is 

 11/4-21/2 inches in diameter. The light gray, shaggy bark is simi- 



