202 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
devour. It is easily distinguished in winter by the smaller 
size of its brown shoots, and its small oval buds. Its wood is 
considered the toughest and strongest of any of the trees o f 
this section. The thick Shellbark hickory, ( C . laciniosa ,) 
resembles much in size and appearance the common Shell- 
bark ; but the nuts are double the size, the shell much thicker 
and yellowish, while that of the latter is white. It is but 
little known except west of the Alleghanies. The Mocker- 
nut hickory, (C. tomentosa,) is so called from the deceptive 
appearance of the nuts, which are generally of large size, but 
contain only a very small kernel. The leaves are composed 
of but four pairs of sessile leaflets, with an odd one at the end. 
The trunk of the old trees is very rugged, and the wood is 
one of the best for fuel. 
The Bitternut hickory, {C. amara,) sometimes called the 
White hickory, grows 60 feet high in New-Jersey. The 
husk which covers the nut of this species, has four winged 
appendages on its upper half, and never hardens like the 
other sorts, but becomes soft and decays. The shell is thin, 
but the kernel is so bitter, that even the squirrels refuse to 
eat it. The Water Bitternut, {C. aquatica,) is a very in- 
ferior sort, growing in the swamps and rice fields of the 
southern states. The leaflets are serrated, and resemble in 
shape the leaves of the peach tree. Both the fruit and tim- 
ber are much inferior to those of all the other hickories. 
The Mountain Ash Tree. Pyrus * 
Nat. Ord. Rosacese. Lin. Syst. Icosandria, Di-Pentagynia. 
The European Mountain ash {Pyrus aucuparia,) is an 
* Sorbus of the old Botanists. 
