142 Eleventh Annual Report 



4. Hicoria laciniosa (Michaux) Sargent. Big Shellbark Hick- 

 ory. Big Scaly-bark Hickory. Hard-head Hickory. (Carya 

 laciniosa (Michaux fils) Loudon). Plate 29. Bark on the trunk 

 gray, separating into long plates, twigs stout, at first hairy, yellow- 

 ish, becoming smooth or nearly so, buff or nearly orange color, which 

 is pecuUar to this tree, frequently retaining the leaf stalks of the 

 leaves of the previous year; terminal bud large, ovoid, blunt, about 

 2 cm. (^ inch) long, outer scales brown, usually a dark brown, 

 pubescent, generally keeled especially toward the apex, the lower 

 pointed and nearly triangular in shape, outer scales persisting 

 throughout the winter; leaves 2.5-5 dm. (10-20 inches) long, petioles 

 and main axis more or less pubescent, leaflets 5-9, usually 7, ovate 

 to oblong-lanceolate or obovate, the largest 1-2 dm. (4-8 inches) 

 long, the lateral ones rounded and oblique at the base, the terminal 

 one wedge-shaped at the base, all long taper-pointed at the apex, 

 finely serrate, the lateral ones sessile, the terminal sessile or on a 

 shorb stalk, hairy beneath when they unfold, becoming thick and 

 a deep green above and remaining densely velvety hairy beneath, 

 especially along the principal veins; fruit ovate, subglobose, oblong, 

 or obovate, depressed at the apex, 5-8 cm. (2-3 inches) long, some- 

 what grooved along the sutures, especially towards the apex; nut 

 broadly oblong or often obovate, usually longer than broad, some- 

 times broader than long, flattened, blunt or sharp-pointed at either 

 end, the obovate type usually rounded or notched at the apex, and 

 smoother than the oblong type, which generally has 4-6 sharp ridges; 

 shell generally 2-3 mm. (about }/s inch) thick at the thinnest points; 

 kernel very sweet. 



Distribution. New York west to Iowa, south to Tennessee and 

 west to Arkansas and Kansas. No study of the distribution of 

 this species in the extreme northwestern part of the State has been 

 made, but in the other parts it is more or less frequent in bottom 

 lands and in moist rich woods. It is generally associated with the 

 preceding species, preferring somewhat moister situations. It so 

 much resembles the preceding species in general appearance that 

 it is not commonly separated from it. 



The published records of the distribution are as follows: Car- 

 roll (Thompson); Clark (Smith); Dearborn (Collins); Delaware, 

 Jay, Randolph and Wayne (Phinney); Franklin (Meyncke); Gibson 

 (Schneck) ; Jefferson (Coulter) and (Young) ; Knox (Ridgway) ; Kos- 

 ciusko (Clark) ; Miami (Gorby) ; Noble (Van Gorder) ; Parke (Hobbs) ; 

 Posey (Schneck) ; Steuben (Bradner) ; Vigo (Blatchley) . 



