Pignut Hickory 



237 



on the other at the nearly or quite sessile base, narrowed to the sharp-pointed 

 apex, finely toothed on the margin; the terminal leaflet is rather long-stalked; 

 they are thin and densely scurfy beneath when unfolding, becoming thick and 

 firm, dark green above, paler with a few resinous globules beneath. The stami- 

 nate catkins are numerous in slender stalked clusters of 3; the lobes of the peri- 

 anth are rounded, much shorter than the narrow bract. The fruit is ovoid, much 

 flattened, 1.5 cm. long or more, light brown and scurfy, terminated by the per- 

 sistent remnants of the style, and slightly winged; the husk is verj' thin and 

 leathery, rough, splitting with difiiculty or not at all, scarcely angular; nut com- 

 pressed, nearly white; seed large and sweet. 



This hickory has been found in only a limited area and is as yet little 

 known. 



13. PIGNUT HICKORY — Hicoria glabra (Miller) Britton 

 Juglans glabra Miller. Carya porcina Nuttall 



A tree of drier ground than that in which most other hickories grow, occurring 

 from Maine to Minnesota and Kansas south to Florida and Texas. Its maximum 

 height is 35 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m. It is also called Pignut, 

 Bittemut, Black hickory. Brown hickory, Broom hickory. Hardshell, Switch bud 

 hickory, and White hickory. 



The trunk is slender, branched above. The branches are short, spreading, 

 or the lower often drooping, perfect trees being oblong in shape. The bark is 

 rough, 12 to 20 mm. thick, shallowy fissured 

 into broad close scaly ridges. The twigs are 

 slender, shghtly angular, light green, often covered 

 by soft yellowish hairs, soon becoming smooth 

 or nearly so, light reddish brown and marked by 

 many lenticels and small leaf scars, finally dark 

 brown. The terminal buds are about 6 mm. 

 long, ellipsoid, sharp or blunt, two or three times 

 larger than the lateral ones and covered by 

 imbricated, sharp-pointed, brown, shining scales; 

 the inner scales are covered with thick, silky 

 hairs, and often grow to 5 to 7 cm. long, be- 

 coming more or less curled and reflexed. The 

 leaves are 1.5 to 3 dm. long; the leaf-stalk is 

 slender, smooth, or shghtly hairy, somewhat 

 grooved and enlarged at the base; leaflets 3 to 

 7, rarely 9, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 7 to 15 cm. long, the upper largest, 

 rounded or narrowed at the base, which is sessile or nearly so; they are taper- 

 pointed, and sharp-toothed; the terminal leaflet is the broadest and tapers from 

 above the middle to the slender leaf-stalk, which is about 12 mm. long; they are 

 brownish green, hairy, and glandular when unfolding, becoming thick and firm. 



Fig. 195. — Pignut Hickorj'. 



