Trees of the Northern United States Part 30

* Bark rough, deeply furrowed but not s.h.a.ggy; kernel edible.

(=B.=)

=B.= Leaflets 7 to 9, usually 7 3.

=B.= Leaflets 5 to 7, usually 5 4.

* Bark smooth; kernel bitter. (=C.=)

=C.= Leaflets 5 to 7, usually 7, smooth 5.

=C.= Leaflets 7 to 11, serrate with deep teeth 6.

* Bark smooth; nut thin-sh.e.l.led; kernel sweet; leaflets 13 to 15 7.

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. alba.]

1. =Carya alba=, Nutt. (Sh.e.l.lBARK OR s.h.a.gBARK HICKORY.) Leaflets 5, the lower pair much smaller, all oblong-lanceolate, taper-pointed, finely serrate, downy beneath when young. Fruit globular, depressed at the top, splitting readily into 4 wholly separate valves. Nut white, sweet, compressed, 4-angled. Husk quite thin for the Hickories. Tree 70 to 90 ft. high, with very s.h.a.ggy bark, even on quite small trees. Wild throughout, and cultivated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. sulcata.]

2. =Carya sulcata=, Nutt. (BIG Sh.e.l.lBARK. KINGNUT.) Leaflets 7 to 9, obovate-ac.u.minate, sharply serrate, the odd one attenuate at base and nearly sessile; downy beneath (more so than Carya alba). Fruit large, oval, 4-ribbed above the middle, with 4 intervening depressions. Husk very thick, entirely separating into 4 valves. Nut large, 1 to 2 in.

long, dull-whitish, thick-sh.e.l.led, usually strongly pointed at both ends. Kernel sweet and good. Tree 60 to 90 ft. high, with a s.h.a.ggy bark of loose, narrow strips on large trees. Quite common west of the Alleghanies.

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. tomentsa.]

3. =Carya tomentsa=, Nutt. (MOCKERNUT. WHITE-HEART HICKORY.) Leaflets 7 to 9 (mostly 7), lance-obovate, pointed, obscurely serrate or almost entire, the lower surface as well as the twigs and the catkins tomentose when young. Fruit globular or ovoid, usually with a very hard, thick husk slightly united at base. Nut somewhat hexagonal, with a very thick sh.e.l.l and well-flavored kernel. A tall, slender tree, 60 to 100 ft.

high, with a rough deeply furrowed, but not s.h.a.ggy bark. Common on dry hillsides throughout.

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. microcarpa.]

4. =Carya microcarpa=, Nutt. (SMALL MOCKERNUT.) Leaflets about 5 (5 to 7), oblong-lanceolate, long-pointed, finely serrate, smooth, glandular beneath; buds small, ovate. Fruit small, subglobose, with a thin husk; nut not sharply angled, with a thin sh.e.l.l; edible. A large tree, 70 to 90 ft. high; New York, Pennsylvania, and westward.

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. porcna.]

5. =Carya porcna=, Nutt. (PIGNUT. BROOM-HICKORY.) Leaflets 5 to 7 (usually 7), oblong-ovate, ac.u.minate, serrate, smooth. Fruit pear-shaped to oval, somewhat rough, splitting regularly only about half-way. Nut large (1 to 2 in. long), brownish, somewhat obcordate, with a thick, hard sh.e.l.l, and poor, bitter kernel. Tall tree, 70 to 80 ft. high, with dark-colored heart-wood, and rather smooth bark. Common on ridges.

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. amara.]

6. =Carya amara=, Nutt. (BITTERNUT. SWAMP-HICKORY.) Leaflets 7 to 11, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, serrate with deep teeth. Fruit roundish-ovate, regularly separable only half-way, but friable at maturity. Nut small, white, subglobose, with a very thin sh.e.l.l and an extremely bitter kernel. Large tree with orange-yellow winter buds, and firm, not scaly, bark. Wild throughout, and sometimes cultivated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. olivaeformis.]

7. =Carya olivaeformis=, Nutt. (PECAN-NUT.) Leaflets 13 to 15, ovate-lanceolate, serrate; lateral ones nearly sessile and decidedly curved. Fruit oblong, widest above the middle, with 4 distinct valves.

Nut oblong, 1 in., nearer smooth than the other edible Hickory-nuts, the sh.e.l.l thin, but rather too hard to be broken by the fingers. The kernel is full, sweet, and good. A tall tree, 80 to 90 ft. high. Indiana and south; also cultivated, but not very successfully, as far north as New York City.

ORDER =x.x.xIX. CUPULFERae.= (OAK FAMILY.)

This order contains more species of trees and shrubs in temperate regions than any other, except the Coniferae. The genus Quercus (Oak) alone contains about 20 species of trees in the region covered by this work.

GENUS =83. BeTULA.=

Trees or shrubs with simple, alternate, mostly straight-veined, thin, usually serrate leaves. Flowers in catkins, opening in early spring, in most cases before the leaves. Fruit a leafy-scaled catkin or cone, hanging on till autumn. Twigs usually slender, the bark peeling off in thin, tough layers, and having peculiar horizontal marks. Many species have aromatic leaves and twigs.

* Trunks with chalky white bark. (=A.=)

=A.= Native. (=B.=)

=B.= Small tree with leafstalks about as long as the blades 1.

=B.= Large tree; leafstalks about 1/3 as long as the blades 2.

=A.= Cultivated; from Europe; many varieties 3.

* Bark not chalky white, usually dark. (=C.=)

=C.= Leaves and bark very aromatic. (=D.=)

=D.= Bark of trunk yellowish and splitting into filmy layers 5.

=D.= Bark not splitting into filmy layers 4.

=C.= Leaves not very aromatic; bark brownish and loose and s.h.a.ggy on the main trunk; growing in or near the water 6.

[Ill.u.s.tration: B. populiflia.]

1. =Betula populiflia=, Ait. (AMERICAN WHITE OR GRAY BIRCH.) Leaves triangular, very taper-pointed, and usually truncate or nearly so at the broad base, irregularly twice-serrate; both sides smooth and shining, when young glutinous with resinous glands; leafstalks half as long as the blades and slender, so as to make the leaves tremulous, like those of the Aspen. Fruit brown, cylindrical, more or less pendulous on slender peduncles. A small (15 to 30 ft. high), slender tree with an ascending rather than an erect trunk. Bark chalky or grayish white, with triangular dusky s.p.a.ces below the branches; recent shoots brown, closely covered with round dots.

[Ill.u.s.tration: B. papyrifera.]

2. =Betula papyrifera=, Marsh. (PAPER OR CANOE BIRCH.) Leaves 2 to 4 in.

long, ovate, taper-pointed, heart-shaped, abrupt or sometimes wedge-shaped at the base, sharply and doubly serrate, smooth and green above, roughly reticulated, glandular-dotted and slightly hairy beneath; footstalk not over 1/3 the length of the blade. Fruit long-stalked and drooping. A large tree, 60 to 75 ft. high, with white bark splitting freely into very thin, tough layers. A variety, 5 to 10 ft. high (var.

_minor_), occurs only in the White Mountains. Young shoots reddish or purplish olive-green deepening to a dark copper bronze. New England and westward, also cultivated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: B. alba.]

3. =Betula alba=, L. (EUROPEAN WHITE BIRCH.) Leaves ovate, acute, somewhat deltoid, unequally serrate, often deeply cut, nearly smooth; in var. _p.u.b.escens_ covered with white hairs. Fruit brown, cylindric, drooping. A tree, 30 to 60 ft. high, with a chalky-white bark; from Europe, extensively cultivated in this country, under many names, which indicate the character of growth or foliage; among them may be mentioned _pendula_ (weeping), _laciniata_ (cut-leaved), _fastigiata_ (pyramidal), _atropurpurea_ (purple-leaved), and _p.u.b.escens_ (hairy-leaved).

[Ill.u.s.tration: B. lenta.]

4. =Betula lenta=, L. (SWEET, BLACK OR CHERRY BIRCH.) Leaves and bark very sweet, aromatic. Leaves ovate or ovate-oblong, with more or less heart-shaped base, very acute apex, and doubly and finely serrate margin, bright shining green above, smooth beneath, except the veins, which are hairy. Fruit 1 to 1 in. long, cylindric, with spreading lobes to the scales. A rather large tree, 50 to 70 ft. high, with bark of trunk and twigs in appearance much like that of the garden Cherry, and not splitting into as thin layers as most of the Birches. Wood rose-colored, fine-grained. Moist woods, rather common throughout; also cultivated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: B. lutea.]

5. =Betula lutea=, Michx. f. (YELLOW OR GRAY BIRCH.) A species so like the preceding (Betula lenta) as to be best described by stating the differences. Leaves and bark are much less aromatic. Leaves 3 to 5 in.

long, not so often nor so plainly heart-shaped at base, usually narrowed; less bright green above, and more downy beneath; more coa.r.s.ely serrate. Fruit not so long, and more ovate, with much larger and thinner scales, the lobes hardly spreading. A large tree, 50 to 90 ft. high, with yellowish or silvery-gray bark peeling off into very thin, filmy layers from the trunk. Wood whiter, and not so useful. Rich, moist woodlands, especially northward; also cultivated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: B. ngra.]