PALE-LEAF HICKORY (II icoria villosa, Ashe). 19 to 2.! feet; rarely, 40 to 50 feet. Small tree with short trunk and oblong head of small branches. Bark gray or brown, with deep furrows and broad, scaly ridges. Twigs, pale, pubescent, becoming purplish, then dark brown on branches. Wood brown, hard, chiefly used for fuel. Leaves 6 to 10 inches long, pubescent, with tufts of hairs, becoming smooth after maturity; leaflets 7, sessile, short-stalked, taper-pointed, saw-toothed toward the upper half; shield-shaped, silvery scales on the under side of opening leaves are shed before maturity, and linings are pale or yellow, upper surfaces dark green. Flowers
staminate catkins in 3's, hairy; pistillate oblong, 4-ribbed, yellow, pubescent. Fruit pear-shaped, or oblong, 4-winged, fuzzy, yellow, 'thin-husked, thick-shelled. Shell angled kernel sweet. Dist.: Sandy and rocky, barren soil, souther New Jersey to Florida; west to Missouri and Texas