THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, HICKORIES, ETC. 229 



Hickory or shagbark. The hickory, sometimes called 

 Cat-yaaiha. shagbark or shellbark, is a tall, 



spreadmg tree 70 to 90 and occa- 

 sionally, in the forest, 120 feet high. It usually has a 

 straight trunk with gray bark loosely attached, which 

 hangs LQ strips nearly a foot long and six inches wide ; 

 the ends of these strips frequently curve away from 

 the trunk, and give it the rugged appearance which 

 accounts for the name " shagbark." The younger 

 branches are smooth and light gray. As a rule, 

 there are but five sharp-toothed leaflets on a stem 

 (sometimes there are seven), and these are from four 

 to eight iuches long ; they are rather thin, and dark 

 yellowish green; the leaf stem is rough, and some- 

 what enlarged at the base. The fruit, which is ripe 

 in October, has a thick, hard husk, which splits into 

 four separate sections ; the whitish nut, slightly flat- 

 tened at the sides, has a thiu wall, and a large, sweet 

 kernel which I consider superior in flavor to any 

 other American nut. 



This hickory is the commonest of the species in 

 the North ; it extends from Maine to central Minne- 

 sota and southeastern Nebraska ; southward it fol- 

 lows along the Alleghany Mountains (on their west- 

 em slopes, and in the Ohio basin it attains its largest 

 size), and reaches its limit in western Florida and 



Texas. 



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