Michigan Trees Part 20

HABITAT.--Prefers deep, rich loam, but grows in any well-drained soil; dry ridges and hillsides.

NOTES.--Hardy and desirable for ornamental purposes. Difficult to transplant. Not adapted to street use.

[Ill.u.s.tration: +Bitternut Hickory+

1. Winter twig, 1.

2. Leaf, 1/3.

3. Flowering branchlet, 1/2.

4. Staminate flower, enlarged.

5. Pistillate flower, enlarged.

6. Fruit, 1.]

+JUGLANDACEAE+

+Bitternut Hickory+

_Carya cordiformis (w.a.n.g.) K. Koch_ [_Hicoria minima (Marsh.) Britt._]

[_Carya amara Nutt._]

HABIT.--A tall, slender tree 50-75 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 1-2-1/2 feet; forming a broad crown of slender, stiff, upright branches, widest near the top.

LEAVES.--Alternate, compound, 6-10 inches long. Leaflets 5-11, the upper 4-6 inches long and one-fourth as broad; sessile, except the terminal; lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, long-pointed; coa.r.s.ely serrate; thin and firm; glabrous, bright green above, paler and more or less downy beneath. Petioles slender, hairy. Foliage fragrant when crushed.

FLOWERS.--May, after the leaves; monoecious; the staminate slightly p.u.b.escent, in pendulous, ternate catkins 3-4 inches long, on a common peduncle about 1 inch long; scales 3-lobed, hairy; stamens 4, with bearded, yellow anthers; the pistillate in 2-5-flowered spikes 1/2 inch long, scurfy-tomentose; calyx 4-lobed, p.u.b.escent; corolla 0; stigmas 2, greenish.

FRUIT.--October; obovate to globular, about 1 inch long, coated with yellow, scurfy p.u.b.escence, with very thin husk splitting half-way to the base, with sutures winged at the top; nut quite smooth, with thin sh.e.l.l and small, bitter kernel.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud about 3/4 inch long, long-pointed, flattish, granular-yellow; lateral buds more or less 4-angled.

BARK.--Twigs greenish and more or less downy, becoming brownish, and finally grayish; gray, close, smooth on the trunk, often reticulately ridged, but rarely broken into plates.

WOOD.--Heavy, very hard, strong, tough, close-grained, dark brown, with thick, lighter colored sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Of common occurrence in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula.

HABITAT.--Prefers a rich, loamy or gravelly soil; low, wet woods; along the borders of streams; but also found on high, dry uplands.

NOTES.--Grows most rapidly of all the hickories, but is apt to show dead branches. Should be propagated from the seed, as it is not easily transplanted.

[Ill.u.s.tration: +Hornbeam. Ironwood+

1. Winter twig, 1/2.

2. Portion of twig, enlarged.

3. Leaf, 1/2.

4. Flowering branchlet, 1/2.

5. Staminate flower, enlarged.

6. Pistillate flower, enlarged.

7. Fruit, 1/2.]

+BETULACEAE+

+Hornbeam. Ironwood+

_Ostrya virginiana (Mill.) K. Koch_

HABIT.--A small tree usually 20-30 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 8-12 inches; forming a broad, rounded crown of many long, slender branches and a slender, stiff spray.

LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 3-5 inches long, about one-half as broad; oblong-ovate; sharply doubly serrate; thin and very tough; dull, dark green above, paler and more or less p.u.b.escent beneath; petioles short, slender, p.u.b.escent.

FLOWERS.--April-May, with the leaves; monoecious; the staminate in drooping, cylindrical catkins from wood of the previous season, usually in threes; stamens 3-14, crowded on a hairy torus; the pistillate in erect, lax catkins on the season's shoots, usually in pairs, each flower inclosed in a hairy, sac-like involucre.

FRUIT.--September; strobiles, resembling cl.u.s.ters of hops, 1-2 inches long, borne on slender, hairy stems; nuts small and flat, inclosed by sac-like involucres.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds 1/8-1/4 inch long, ovoid, acute, red-brown.

BARK.--Twigs at first light green, becoming l.u.s.trous, red-brown, and finally dull dark brown; thin, gray-brown on the trunk, very narrowly and longitudinally ridged.

WOOD.--Heavy, very strong and hard, tough, close-grained, durable, light red-brown, with thick, whitish sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Common throughout the entire state.

HABITAT.--Prefers dry, gravelly slopes and ridges.

NOTES.--Often grows in shade of other trees. Not easily transplanted.

Rather slow of growth. Too small for street use.

[Ill.u.s.tration: +Blue Beech. Water Beech+

1. Winter twig, 1.

2. Portion of twig, enlarged.

3. Leaf, 1.

4. Flowering branchlet, 1/2.

5. Staminate flower, enlarged.

6. Pistillate flower, enlarged.

7. Fruit, 1/2.]

+BETULACEAE+

+Blue Beech. Water Beech+