OAK FAMILY. 301 



J. nigra. Black W. Large tree, commoner "W. & B- : stalks and shoot:? 

 not clammy, minutely downy ; leaflets sraoothish, ovate-lanceolate, serrate ; 

 fruit spherical. 



* * Planted from the Old World : husk friable, separating when dry from the 



roundish and smouthish thin-shelled nut. 



J. r^gia., English Walnut, so called, but native of Asia ; leaflets oval, 

 entire, smootliish ; fruit ripens sparingly in Middle States. 



2. CARYA, HICKORY. (Greek name of the Walnut, applied to these 



North American trees.) Fl. in rather late spring : nuts fall in autumn. 



§ 1. Sterile catkins in a sessile cluster : leaflets 13-15, short-stalked: nut edible. 



C. olivffif6rmis, Pecan-^ut. Along rivers, from Illmois S. : leaflets 

 oblong-lanceolate, taper-pointed ; nut cylindrical-oblong, olive-shaped, the seed 

 delicious. 



§ 2. Sterile catkins 3 or more together on a common peduncle. : leaflets sessile or 

 nearly so, of 5 — 9 or rarely 11-13 leaflets : mU globular or short-oval. 



* Nuts sweet-tasted and edible (the hickory-nuts of the market) ; the husk splitting 



into 4 thick and hard valves : buds large, of about 10 scalts. 



C. ^ba, Shell-bark or Shao-Baek H. Commonest E. : bark of old 

 trimks vei-y shaggy, separating in rough strips ; inner bud-scales becoming very 

 large and conspicuous on the young shoot ; leaflets 5, the 3 upper much larger 

 and lance-obovate ; nut white. 



C. sulcd,ta. Western Shell-bark H. Erom Penn. W. & S. : differs 

 from the foregoing in lighter-colored heart-wood, 7-9 leaflets more downy be- 

 neath, fruit with very thick husk 4-ribbed above the middle, and larger yellow- 

 ish or dull-white nut (sometimes 2' long) mostly with a point at both ends. 



C. tomentdsa, Mocker-nut or White-heart H. Common E. & S. ; 

 bark rough, but not splitting off in strips ; shoots and lower surface of the 

 leaves woolly-downy when young; leaflets 7-9, lance-obovate, or the lower 

 lance-oblong ; fruit with very thick hard husk, and globular nut (not flattish on 

 the sides) brownish, very thick-shelled, hardly fit to eat, 



* * Nuts bitter, in a rather thin and friable husk, which splits onli/ at the top, or 



tardily to near the base : bark on the trunk close : bud-scales falling early, 

 C. poreina, Brown H. or Pig-nut. Common N. : bark of trunk 

 rough ; bud-scales about 10, small ; shoots and leaves nearly smooth ; leaflets 

 5-7, obovate-lanceolate ; fruit pear-shaped; nut oblong or oval, hard-shelled, 

 seed at first sweet, then bitterish. 



C. am^ra. Bitter-nut. Moist or low grounds : bark of trunk smooth and 

 very close ; yellowish bud-scales about 6 ; shoots and leaves pubescent when 

 young; leaflets 7 - 11 , lanceolate or lance-oblong; fruit and white thin-shelled 

 and tender nut globular ; seed at first sweet, then very bitter. 



C. aqu^tica. Water H. River-swamps S. ' Small tree", with rough 

 bark ; bud-scales as in the last ; leaflets 9 - 13, lanceolate, smooth ; nut thin- 

 shelled, 4-angular, flattish ; seed very bitter. 



106. CUPULIFER-ffl, OAK FAMILY. 



I Trees or shrubs, with alternate and simple straight-veined leaves, 

 very deciduous stipules, and morioscious flowers ; the sterile in 

 slender catkins (except in the Beech) ; the fertile solitary, clustered, 

 or sometimes spiised, and furnished with an involucn; which forms 

 a cup or covering to the 1-celled 1-seeded nut. This nut comes 

 from an ovary with 2 or more cells having one or two ovules hang- 

 ing from the summit of each ; but all except one cell and one 

 ovule are abortive. There is a calyx adhering to the ovary, as is 

 shown by the minute teeth crowning its summit. Seed filled by 

 the embryo, which has thick and fleshy cotyledons. 



