Mocker Nut Hickory
MOCKER NUT HICKORY
(Carya alba)
Shape oval, 50-70 ft. tall. Trunk somewhat swollen at base. Branches more or less down sweeping except the upper ones. Bark not shaggy but broken by rough, corky, braided ridges that appear as if sand-papered. Twigs stout, ruddy, downy. Buds pale gray, thick, densely hairy, many-scaled. Leaves of 7-9 resinous leaflets, paler beneath. Fruit a large husk splitting into 4 segments; nut brownish; kernel sweet. Range: Gulf States to s. Gt. Lakes region and s. N.E. The wood is used like that of shagbark and not commercially differentiated. PIGNUT (Carya glabra) is similar, but the twigs and shining, heavy leaves are without hairs; leaflets 5-7; fruit pear-shaped; shell very bony. The kernel is far inferior to that of Shagbark and Mocker Nut. It is found throughout the e. deciduous forest belt.
Shagbark Hickory
SHAGBARK HICKORY
(Carya ovata)
Shape narrowly oblong, up to 140 ft. tall. Bark smoke gray, shaggy and peeling off in long thick strips. Branches pendulous. Twigs erect, stout. Buds large, many scaled. Leaves of 5-7 leaflets. Fruit with a thick husk splitting into 4 segments; nut whitish, 4-ridged, the kernel delicious. Range: Gt. Lakes region to Tex. and Fla., e. to N. E. The wood is heavy, hard, tough, employed for all implements requiring strength, such as axles, axe handles, ploughs, and skiis. This noble tree leafs out late and early drops its bronze foliage. KING NUT HICKORY (Carya laciniosa) is similar in every way but the leaflets are 7-9 in number, downier beneath; nut very large, yellowish, in a thinner husk. As a nut tree this is decidedly superior to Shagbark. Centr. N. Y. and down the Ohio Valley, Mo., Ia., and e. Okla. Bark scaly rather than shaggy, but peeling off.
Butternut