Black Walnut
=Habitat and Range.=--Rich woods.
Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont,--not reported native;
Massachusetts,--rare east of the Connecticut river, occasional along the
western part of the Connecticut valley to the New York line; Rhode
Island,--doubtfully native, Apponaug (Kent county) and elsewhere;
Connecticut,--frequent westward, Darien (Fairfield county); Plainville
(Hartford county, J. N. Bishop in lit.,
896); in the central and
eastern sections probably introduced.
South to Florida; west to Minnesota, Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas.
=Habit.=--A large tree, 50-75 feet high, with a diameter above the swell
of the roots of 2-5 feet; attaining in the Ohio valley a height of 150
feet and a diameter of 6-8 feet; trunk straight, slowly tapering,
throwing out its lower branches nearly horizontally, the upper at a
broad angle, forming an open, spacious, noble head.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk in old trees thick, blackish, and deeply
furrowed; large branches rough and more or less furrowed; branchlets
smooth; season's twigs downy.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, ovate or rounded, obtuse, more or
less pubescent, few-scaled. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate; rachis
smooth and swollen at base, but less so than that of the butternut;
stipules none; leaflets 13-21 (the odd leaflet at the apex often
wanting), opposite or alternate, 2-5 inches long, about half as wide;
dark green and smooth above, lighter and slightly glandular-pubescent
beneath, turning yellow in autumn; outline ovate-lanceolate; apex
taper-pointed; base oblique, usually rounded or heart-shaped; stemless
or nearly so, except the terminal leaflet; stipels none. Aromatic when
bruised.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Appearing while the leaves are unfolding, sterile
and fertile flowers on the same tree,--the sterile along the sides or at
the ends of the preceding year's branches, in single, unbranched,
green, stout, cylindrical, pendulous catkins, 3-6 inches long; perianth
of 6 rounded lobes, stamens numerous, filaments very short, anthers
purple: fertile flowers in the axils of the season's shoots, sessile,
solitary or several on a common peduncle; calyx 4-toothed, with 4 small
petals at the sinuses; stigmas 2, reddish-green.
=Fruit.=--Ripening in October at the ends of the branchlets, single, or
two or more together; round, smooth, or somewhat roughish with uneven
surface, not viscid, dull green turning to brown: husk not separating
into sections: shell irregularly furrowed: kernel edible.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in central and southern New England; grows
well in most situations, but in a deep rich soil it forms a large and
handsome tree. Readily obtainable in western nurseries; transplants
rather poorly, and collected plants are of little value. Its leaves
appear late and drop early, and the fruit is often abundant. These
disadvantages make it objectionable in many cases. Grown from seed.
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, front view.
4. Sterile flower, back view.
5. Fertile flower.
6. Fruiting branch.
=Carya alba, Nutt.=
Hicoria ovata, Britton.
SHAGBARK. SHAGBARK OR SHELLBARK HICKORY. WALNUT.
=Habitat and Range.=--In various soils and situations, fertile slopes,
brooksides, rocky hills.
Valley of the St. Lawrence.
Maine,--along or near the coast as far north as Harpswell (Cumberland
county); New Hampshire,--common as far north as Lake Winnepesaukee;
Vermont,--occasional along the Connecticut to Windsor, rather common in
the Champlain valley and along the western slopes of the Green
mountains; Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut,--common.
South to Delaware and along the mountains to Florida; west to
Minnesota, Kansas, Indian territory, and Texas.
=Habit.=--The tallest of the hickories and proportionally the most
slender, from 50 to 75 feet in height, and not more than 2 feet in trunk
diameter; rising to a great height in the Ohio and Indiana river
bottoms. The trunk, shaggy in old trees, rises with nearly uniform
diameter to the point of furcation, throwing out rather small branches
of unequal length and irregularly disposed, forming an oblong or rounded
head with frequent gaps in the continuity of the foliage.
=Bark.=--Trunk in young trees and in the smaller branches ash-gray,
smoothish to seamy; in old trees, extremely characteristic, usually
shaggy, the outer layers separating into long, narrow, unequal plates,
free at one or both ends, easily detachable; branchlets smooth and gray,
with conspicuous leaf-scars; season's shoots stout, more or less downy,
numerous-dotted.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds tomentose, ovate to oblong, terminal
buds large, much swollen before expanding; inner scales numerous,
purplish-fringed, downy, enlarging to 5-6 inches in length as the leaves
unfold. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate, 12-20 inches long; petiole
short, rough, and somewhat swollen at base; stipules none; leaflets
usually 5, sometimes 3 or 7, 3-7 inches long, dark green above,
yellowish-green and downy beneath when young, the three upper large,
obovate to lanceolate, the two lower much smaller, oblong to
oblong-lanceolate, all finely serrate and sharp-pointed; base obtuse,
rounded or acute, mostly inequilateral; nearly sessile save the odd
leaflet; stipels none.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile and fertile flowers on the same tree,
appearing when the leaves are fully grown,--sterile at the base of the
season's shoots, in slender, green, pendulous catkins, 4-6 inches long,
usually in threes, branching umbel-like from a common peduncle;
flower-scales 3-parted, the middle lobe much longer than the other two,
linear, tipped with long bristles; calyx adnate to scale; stamens
mostly in fours, anthers yellow, bearded at the tip: fertile flowers
single or clustered on peduncles at the ends of the season's shoots;
calyx 4-toothed, hairy, adherent to ovary; corolla none; stigmas 2,
large, fringed.
=Fruit.=--October. Spherical, 3-6 inches in circumference: husks rather
thin, firm, green turning to brown, separating completely into 4
sections: nut variable in size, subglobose, white, usually 4-angled:
kernel large, sweet, edible.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers light,
well-drained, loamy soil; when well established makes a moderately rapid
growth; difficult to transplant, rarely offered in nurseries; collected
plants seldom survive; a fine tree for landscape gardening, but its nuts
are apt to make trouble in public grounds. Propagated from a seed. A
thin-shelled variety is in cultivation.
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, front view.
4. Sterile flower, back view.
5. Fertile flower.
6. Fruiting branch.
=Carya tomentosa, Nutt.=
Hicoria alba, Britton.