Handbook of the Trees of New England Part 10

b.u.t.tERNUT. OILNUT. LEMON WALNUT.

=Habitat and Range.=--Roadsides, rich woods, river valleys, fertile, moist hillsides, high up on mountain slopes.

New Brunswick, throughout Quebec and eastern Ontario.

Maine,--common, often abundant; New Hampshire,--throughout the Connecticut valley, and along the Merrimac and its tributaries, to the base of the White mountains; Vermont,--frequent; Ma.s.sachusetts,--common in the eastern and central portions, frequent westward; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--common.

South to Delaware, along the mountains to Georgia and Alabama; west to Minnesota, Kansas, and Arkansas.

=Habit.=--Usually a medium-sized tree, 20-45 feet in height, with a disproportionately large trunk, 1-4 feet in diameter; often attaining under favorable conditions much greater dimensions. It ramifies at a few feet from the ground and throws out long, rather stout, and nearly horizontal branches, the lower slightly drooping, forming for the height of the tree a very wide-spreading head, with a stout and stiffish spray.

At its best the b.u.t.ternut is a picturesque and even beautiful tree.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk dark gray, rough, narrow-ridged and wide-furrowed in old trees, in young trees smooth, dark gray; branchlets brown gray, with gray dots and prominent leaf-scars; season's shoots greenish-gray, faint-dotted, with a clammy p.u.b.escence. The bruised bark of the nut stains the skin yellow.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds flattish or oblong-conical, few-scaled, 2-4 buds often superposed, the uppermost largest and far above the axil. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate, 1-1-1/2 feet long, viscid-p.u.b.escent throughout, at least when young; rachis enlarged at base; stipules none; leaflets 9-17, 2-4 inches long, about half as wide, upper surface rough, yellowish when unfolding in spring, becoming a dark green, lighter beneath, yellow in autumn; outline oblong-lanceolate, serrate; veins prominent beneath; apex acute to ac.u.minate; base obtuse to rounded, somewhat inequilateral, sessile, except the terminal leaflet; stipels none.

=Inflorescence.=--May. Appearing while the leaves are unfolding, sterile and fertile flowers on the same tree,--the sterile from terminal or lateral buds of the preceding season, in single, unbranched, stout, green, cylindrical, drooping catkins 3-6 inches long; calyx irregular, mostly 6-lobed, borne on an oblong scale; corolla none; stamens 8-12, with brown anthers: fertile flowers sessile, solitary, or several on a common peduncle from the season's shoots; calyx hairy, 4-lobed, with 4 small petals at the sinuses; styles 2, short; stigmas 2, large, feathery, diverging, rose red.

=Fruit.=--Ripening in October, one or several from the same footstalk, about 3 inches long, oblong, pointed, green, downy, and sticky at first, dark brown when dry: sh.e.l.ls sculptured, rough: kernel edible, sweet but oily.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in any well-drained soil, but prefers a deep, rich loam; seldom reaches its best under cultivation. Trees of the same age are apt to vary in vigor and size, dead branches are likely to appear early, and sound trees 8 or 10 inches in diameter are seldom seen; the foliage is thin, appears late and drops early; planted in private grounds chiefly for its fruit; only occasionally offered in nurseries, collected plants seldom successful.

Best grown from seed planted where the tree is to stand, as is evident from many trees growing spontaneously.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XXII.--Juglans cinerea.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Sterile flower, side view.

4. Fertile flower.

5. Fruit.

6. Leaf.

=Juglans nigra, L.=

BLACK WALNUT.

=Habitat and Range.=--Rich woods.

Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont,--not reported native; Ma.s.sachusetts,--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._, 1896); 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, s.p.a.cious, n.o.ble 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 p.u.b.escent, few-scaled. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate; rachis smooth and swollen at base, but less so than that of the b.u.t.ternut; 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-p.u.b.escent 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: sh.e.l.l 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XXIII.--Juglans nigra.]

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._

s.h.a.gBARK. s.h.a.gBARK OR Sh.e.l.lBARK 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 (c.u.mberland 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; Ma.s.sachusetts, 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, s.h.a.ggy 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 s.h.a.ggy, 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 cl.u.s.tered 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 circ.u.mference: 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-sh.e.l.led variety is in cultivation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XXIV.--Carya alba.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Sterile flower, front view.

4. Sterile flower, back view.

5. Fertile flower.

6. Fruiting branch.