=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Lateral buds smaller than in _C. tomentosa_, oblong, pointed; terminal, globular, with rounded apex; scales numerous, the inner reddish, lengthening to 1 or 2 inches, not dropping till after expansion of the leaves. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate, 10-18 inches long; petiole long and smooth; stipules none; leaflets 5-7, opposite, 2-5 inches long, yellowish-green above, paler beneath, turning to an orange brown in autumn, smooth on both sides; outline, the three upper obovate, the two lower oblong-lanceolate, all taper-pointed; base obtuse, sometimes acute, especially in the odd leaflet. =Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile and fertile flowers on the same tree, appearing when the leaves are fully grown,--sterile at the base of the season's shoots, in pendulous, downy, slender catkins, 3-5 inches long, usually in threes, branching umbel-like from a common peduncle; scales 3-lobed, nearly glabrous, lobes of nearly equal length, pointed, the middle narrower; stamens mostly 4, anthers yellowish, beset with white hairs: fertile flowers at the ends of the season's shoots; calyx 4-toothed, pubescent, adherent to the ovary; corolla none; stigmas 2. =Fruit.=--October. Single or in pairs, sessile on a short, terminal stalk, shape and size extremely variable, pear-shaped, oblong, round, or obovate, usually about 1-1/2 inches in diameter: husk thin, green turning to brown, when ripe parting in four sections to the center and sometimes nearly to the base: nut rather thick-shelled, not ridged, not sharp-pointed: kernel much inferior in flavor to that of the shagbark. =Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in all well-drained soils, but prefers a deep, rich loam; a desirable tree for ornamental plantations, especially in lawns, as the deep roots do not interfere with the growth of grass above them; ill-adapted, like all the hickories, for streets, as the nuts are liable to cause trouble; less readily obtainable in nurseries than the shellbark hickory and equally difficult to transplant. Propagated from the seed. [Illustration: PLATE XXVI.--Carya porcina.] 1. Winter buds. 2. Flowering branch. 3, 4. Sterile flower, back view. 5. Fertile flower, side view. 6. Fruiting branch. =Carya amara, Nutt.= _Hicoria minima, Britton_. BITTERNUT. SWAMP HICKORY. =Habitat and Range.=--In varying soils and situations; wet woods, low, damp fields, river valleys, along roadsides, occasional upon uplands and hill slopes. From Montreal west to Georgian bay. Maine,--southward, rare; New Hampshire,--eastern limit in the Connecticut valley, where it ranges farther north than any other of our hickories, reaching Well's river (Jessup); Vermont,--occasional west of the Green mountains and in the southern Connecticut valley; Massachusetts,--rather common, abundant in the vicinity of Boston; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--common.