The nut is truly a mockery to anyone who considers his thumbs. The husk is thick and stubbornly adherent at the base. The shell is almost invulnerable. When at last it is shattered by a blow, the kernel, though sweet, is small, and poorly repays the trouble. Oftentimes there is no kernel at all.
The mockernut is the commonest hickory tree in the South. It is believed to hybridise with the pecan, possibly with H. ovata and some varieties of H. glabra. The parentage of trees inter mediate between one species and another can only be surmised; never proved. If artificial crossing produces duplicates of the questionable trees, then surmises may be considered well founded.
Nutmeg Hickory (H. myristicaformis, Britt.) —A tall, straight tree, with narrow, open head, 8o to too feet high; branches stout, spreading. Bark reddish brown, broken into small, scaly plates; branchlets with golden scales. Wood heavy, hard, tough, light brown. Buds brownish, silky, hairy, small. Leaves 7 to inches long, odd pinnate, of 5 to t i leaflets, ovate-lanceolate to oblong-obovate, thin, firm, dark green, lustrous, silvery white beneath, sometimes pubescent; change to bronze in autumn.
Flowers: staminate in catkins, 3 to 4 inches long, brownish pubes cent, densely flowered, in threes; pistillate terminal, greenish, solitary or few, scurfy pubescent. Fruit small, with sweet kernel, in very thick shell, smooth, rounded, pointed at both ends, in thin, scurfy, hairy, 4-valved husk, with winged sutures that open almost to base at maturity. Preferred habitat, rich, moist soil of swamps, or river banks; sometimes dryer hillsides. Distribution, coast regions of South Carolina, central Carolina, central Alabama and Mississippi, southern Arkansas. Uses: Cultivated sparingly in Eastern States. Beautiful ornamental tree. Locally used as fuel and lumber.
It is the lustrous foliage that makes this tree the most beauti ful of all the hickories. The deep, perpendicular roots that make transplanting a difficult matter among all the hickories have prob ably kept this one from the full recognition it deserves at the hands of nurserymen and planters. Its narrow range in sections that do not lack beautiful trees is another cause. In fact, the tree
itself was not really discovered by a competent observer until 189o, although the nuts were seen by Michaux as early as 18oz. The tree is rare in the Southeast, but is common in southern Arkansas. The fine specimen in the garden of the Department of Agriculture at Washington proves its hardiness in that latitude, and brings its good qualities to the attention of the public.
Since we have all the hickories here in our Eastern States, it certainly behooves us to foster them, and share them with the rest of the world. The first step is to learn how best to propagate and transplant the various species. The next is to plant them freely, and so set forth their superior merits to all who see these plantations. There are few species which do not repay the cost in returns substantial as well as aesthetic. Hickory nuts and lum ber are in constant demand, so each year adds to the value of the trees.
Pecan (Hicoria Pecan, Britt.)—Large, thick-trunked tree with broad top; Rio to 170 feet high, 4 to 6 feet in diameter at base. Bark light reddish brown, broken into small, scaly plates; branches smooth, twigs pubescent, with orange-coloured lenticels. Wood light brown, compact, heavy, hard, not strong. Buds small, yellow, pointed, pubescent, with narrow scales that elongate slightly in spring. Leaves 12 to zo inches long, of 9 to 17 leaflets, short petioled, often falcate, lanceolate, serrate, bright yellow green above, paler below; petioles yellow. Flowers: staminate in catkins, profuse; pistillate terminal, in spikes; each flower greenish, scurfy, 4-angled, tapering. Fruit 3 to it in cluster, pointed at both ends, elongated, husk thin, 4-angled, winged at sutures which open at maturity; nut smooth, reddish, cylindrical, thin shelled; kernel sweet, with red, astringent, granular coat.
Preferred habitat, low, rich ground near streams. Distribution, southern Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, and Southern States bordering the Mississippi River to central Alabama. Range extended by cultivation into all Southern States. Uses: Most valuable native nut tree. Wood not much used in construction; excellent for fuel. Fine shade and ornamental tree.