The LEAVES, 8 to 12 inches long with 5 to 7, usually 7, [leaflets] and rusty-hairy slender petioles, are dark green, lustrous above; much paler beneath. The FLOWERS are similar to other hickories.
The [FRUIT] is obovoid, narrow, or abruptly contracted into a short stalk at the base, with a husk ¹/₁₂ to ⅙ inch thick, splitting to the middle or nearly to the base. The sweet-seeded [nut] is nearly obovoid to [oblong], rounded at the ends, compressed and slightly four-angled, with a shell ⅙ to ⅕ inch thick.
The hard, brittle WOOD is used chiefly for fuel.
CORKWOOD
Leitneria floridana Chapm.
This lightest of all native woods in the United States grows in river swamps near the Gulf, about the mouth of the Brazos River. It is a small tree reaching a height of 20 feet, or a shrub, depending upon the location and natural conditions. The base is usually swollen. The straight, gradually tapering trunk is crowned with a loose, open-topped head. The young branchlets are coated with hairs which later drop, leaving a smooth, dark, red-brown stem.
CORKWOOD (Leaf, one-half natural size; [fruit] and winter twig, natural size)
The [simple], [alternate] LEAVES are from 4 to 6 inches long and about 2 inches wide, borne on petioles 1 or 2 inches long. The leaves are shiny above.
The FLOWERS are in [catkins] of two kinds or sexes, the male about 1½ inches long, the female about ¾ inch long. Both kinds are borne on the same tree and appear about the first of March. The [FRUIT] is solitary or in clusters of 2 to 4, each about ½ to ¾ inch long, and ripens when the leaves are about one-half grown. The WOOD is soft, exceedingly light, generally uniform in texture and of a pale yellow color. It is used as a substitute for cork for floats on fishing nets.