BITTERNUT HICKORY. 
confounded with the Pignut Hickory ; the French of Illinois, like the 
inhabitants of New Jersey, give it the name of Bitternut, which, as it indi- 
cates one of the peculiar properties of the fruit, I have chosen to retain. 
The Bitternut Hickory, I believe, is nowhere found much beyond the 
boundaries of Vermont, in the 45th degree of latitude. It is not seen in 
the Province of Maine, where the borders of the rivers offer situations anal- 
ogous to those in which it abounds, a few degrees further south. In Ber- 
gen woods, six miles from New York, and in the bottoms which stretch 
along the Ohio, it grows to a very lofty stature ; I have measured trees 
which were 10 or 12 feet in circumference, and 70 or 80 feet high. It 
attains these dimensions only in spots where the soil is excellent, constantly 
cool, and often inundated by creeks and rivers. It is probably because it 
thrives most in such situations, that it is sometimes called Swamp Hickory. 
Of all the Hickories, the vegetation of this species is the latest ; I have 
uniformly observed, that its leaves unfold a fortnight after the others. On 
flourishing trees at an age to bear fruit, they are 12 or 15 inches in length 
and nearly as much in breadth ; the size, as in other vegetables, varies 
according to the nature of the soil, and the situation of the leaf upon a 
lower or upon an upper branch. Each leaf is composed of 3 or 4 pair of 
leaflets, and terminated by an odd one, which is larger than the preceding 
pair. The leaflets are about 6 inches in length, and an inch in breadth, 
sessile, oval-acuminate, deeply toothed, smooth, and of a dusky green. 
When the tree has shed its leaves, it may be distinguished by its yellow 
and naked buds. 
In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the Bitternut Hickory blossoms about 
the 25th of May. The peduncles of the male flowers are in pairs, each 
supporting three flexible and pendulous aments : they are attached at the 
basis of the shoots of the same season, while the female aments, which are 
not conspicuous, are placed at the extremity. 
The fruit is ripe about the beginning of October ; it is so plentiful that 
several bushels are sometimes gathered from a single tree. The husk is 
thin, fleshy, and surmounted on its upper half by four wing-like appen- 
dages. It never becomes ligneous, like those of the other Hickories, but 
softens and decays. The form of the nut in this species is more constant 
and more regular than in the others. It is broader than it is lono-, beino- 
6 or 7 lines one way and 10 lines the other. The shell is white, smooth, 
and thin enough to be broken by the fingers. The kernel is remarkable 
for the deep inequalities produced on every side by its foldings. It is so 
harsh and bitter, that squirrels and other animals will not feed on it, while 
any other nut is to be found. 
In some parts of Pennsylvania where this tree is multiplied, an oil is 
extracted from the nuts, which is used for burning in lamps and other infe- 
rior purposes. But from these experiments, in which individuals have 
