Nearly a month ago we celebrated the first day of spring. The pollen was particularly thick that week. Since then, several heavy rains have washed the fine yellow dust from the cars, buildings, and tree trunks. But many trees, notably the hickories, are still hard at work producing pollen. Our tree of the week is one such specimen.
There is one black hickory (
Carya texana) in the arboretum collection. In 1996, Ed Leuck collected a black hickory nut from the grounds of the Veterans Affairs Hospital, along Clyde Fant Parkway in Shreveport. The nut was properly cared for, and the resulting tree now stands near the Student Union Building. This spring the 20-year-old tree is festooned with innumerable catkins.
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| The black hickory is pictured center, just left of the gravel path. This is a high traffic area and has recently been a central node for students' Capture the Flag. This area is also very sunny and as the tree grows up, it will provide very desirable summer shade. |
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| This black hickory has a straight trunk. The enormous loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) looming in the background has a straight trunk, too. |
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| We are seeing a lot of catkins on this black hickory. More catkins means more pollen in the air, on the buildings, on your shoes, in your cereal bowl, etc.. |
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| The catkins are not one uniform length: they measure from 3 to 7 inches. |
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| Black hickories have pinnately compound leaves, with 5 to 7 leaflets. |
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| The new leaves are still stretching out. |
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| These springtime leaflets measure 3 to 5 inches long. |
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| Underneath, the leaves are pale green. |
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| Zooming in on the serrated leaflets, we see small patches of orange particles where the leaflet connects to the leafstalk. |
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| At eye level, the bark on the trunk is gray and fissured. |
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| At the base of the trunk, the bark is dark gray and very rough. |
You can see more photos of the arboretum's black hickory
here.
For more information about this species consult the following:
United States Department of Agriculture
Stephen F. Austin State University
Texas A&M University
Illinois State Museum
