MOCKERNUT HICKORY. 
79 
which are not very conspicuous, are of a pale rose color, and are situated 
at the extremity of the young shoots. 
The fruit is ripe about the 15th of November. It is odorous, sessile or 
rarely pedunculated, and commonly united in pairs. In form and size, it 
exhibits remarkable varieties : on some trees it is round, with depressed 
seams, on others oblong, with angular or prominent seams; it is sometimes 
2 inches long and 12 or 15 lines in diameter, and sometimes of less than 
half this size. It differs also in weight, as well as in configuration and 
volume, varying from one drachm to four. The largest nuts might be con- 
founded with those of the Thick Shellbark Hickory, and the smallest with 
those of the Pignut Hickory : I have selected for the drawing a nut of the 
most common size. The shell is very thick, somewhat channeled, and 
extremely hard. The kernel is sweet but minute, and difhcult to extract, 
on account of the strong partitions which divide it : hence, probably, is 
derived the name of Mockernut, and hence, also, this fruit is rarely seen in 
the markets. 
The trunk of the old Mockernut Hickory is covered with a thick, hard, 
and rugged bark. Its wood is of the same color and texture with the other 
Hickories, and characterized by the qualities which render this class of 
trees so remarkable. It is particularly esteemed for fuel, for which use, 
trees of 6 or 8 inches in diameter are preferred. At this stage of its growth, 
while the heart, the proper. color of which is reddish, is not yet developed, 
it frequently goes by the name of White-heart Hickory. In the country, a 
greenish color is sometimes extracted from the bark, but it is not exten- 
sively in use. 
Of all the Hickories, this species is of the slowest growth: a fact which 
I have proved by planting nuts of the several species, and by comparing 
the length of their annual shoots. I have also been led to believe, that it 
is the most liable to be attacked by worms, and especially by the Callidium 
jlexuosum, whose larva eats within the body of the tree. These consider- 
ations appear sufficiently weighty to induce cultiv'ators, in forming large 
plantations, to prefer some of the species which are described in the sequel. 
PLATE XXXV. 
A leaf of the third of its natural size. Fig. A nut with its husk. Fig. 2, 
A nut without its husk. Fig. 3, Callidium flexuosum. 
