Carya alba, (L.) K. Koch.

Form.—Height 50-80 feet, diameter 1-2½ feet; trunk in the woods straight and free from limbs for about half its length; crown round or oblong, open.

Leaves.—Alternate, compound, 8-12 inches long; leaflets 5-7, of varying lengths; oblong to ovate-lanceolate, serrate, lustrous yellow-green above, paler and pubescent beneath; petioles pubescent.

Flowers.—May, with the leaves; monoecious; staminate flowers in pendulous green catkins; the pistillate in 2-5-flowered spikes.

Fruit.—Ovoid, 1½-2 inches long; husk thick, splitting nearly to the base; nut indistinctly angled with very hard thick shell and small edible kernel.

Bark.—Gray, tight, rough but not shaggy.

Wood.—Heavy, hard, strong, tough, close-grained, elastic, brown with white sapwood.

Range.—Massachusetts and Ontario to Nebraska, Florida and Texas.

Distribution in West Virginia.—Common, especially on the hillsides and ridges east of the Alleghanies. Less frequent and scattered in the central and western counties.

Habitat.—Prefers rich, well-drained soils of open wooded hillsides.

Notes.—This tree has very thick sapwood which is the most valuable part of hickory wood. It is unsurpassed for handle material and other uses where strength and elasticity are desired. The nut kernels are of good quality but are small and hard to get. The pubescent leaf petioles and the thick husks and thick-walled nuts form easy marks for distinguishing this species from the common shell-bark. Big Bud Hickory and White Heart Hickory are other names for this tree.