Subject
Fw: shagbark, a very American tree...
From
Date
Body
A map demarcating the shagbark's spread in America suggested to me that this tree could be a representative of Shade's own "Appalachia", where it stands for a place that is free from major European influences ( oaks,elms, beeches) . The shagbark is native to America and its nut was a staple in the diets of the American Indians and early colonists hundreds of years ago.
There might be other entries in Pale Fire, but I will quote a few concerning "shagbark- hickory" and flying onto "maidenhair-gingko" via Kinbote.
JOHN SHADE Canto I, lines 49/58
"I had a favorite young shagbark there/ With ample dark jade leaves and a black, spare,/ Vermiculated trunk.../ It is now stout and rough... where gently seems to sway/ The phantom of my little daughter's swing."
Canto III, lines 650/52
"..no phantom would/ Rise gracefully to welcome you and me/ In the dark garden, near the shagbark tree."
Canto IV, lines 989/990
"I can see/ part of your shadow near the shagbark tree"
KINBOTE page 89(commentary to lines 47/48) "sometimes when the poet paced back and forth across his lawn, or sat down for a moment on the bench at the end of it, or paused under his favorite hickory tree, I could distinguish the expression of passionate interest..." ;
page 93( line 49: shagbark) : "A hickory. Our poet shared with the English master the noble knack of transplanting trees into verse with their sap and shade...
Queen Disa, "whose favorite trees were the jacaranda and the maidenhair, copied out in her album a quatrain from John Shade's collection... The Sacred Tree... Gingko leaf, in golden hue, when shed,/ A muscat grape..."..." a cat-and-mouse game in the second line, and "tree" in Zemblan is grados"
There are several mentions in "Ada"to (Shade's?) Gingko biloba- maidenhair, then leading to blottings, blooms and blobs ( ruptured virginity), attic scenes and dried plants. I select one marvel of condensation from that novel:
"Maidenhair. Idiot! Percy boy might have been buried by now! Maidenhair. Thus named because of the huge spreading Chinese tree at the end of the platform. Once, vaguely, confused with the Venus'-hair fern. She walked to the end of the platform in Tolstoy's novel. First exponent of the inner monologue, later exploited by the French and the Irish. N'est vert, n'est vert, n'est vert. L'arbre aux quarante écus d'or, at least in the fall. Never, never shall I hear again her 'botanical' voice fall at biloba, 'sorry, my Latin is showing.' Ginkgo, gingko, ink, inkog. Known also as Salisbury's adiantofolia, Ada's infolio, poor Salisburia: sunk; poor Stream of Consciousness, marée noire by now. Who wants Ardis Hall!"
Investigating a little on the shagbark I learned that it
From excerpta written by David L. Graney (on-line) I learned about the Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), of the Walnut family, as being "the most distinctive of all the hickories because of its loose-plated bark. Common names include shellbark hickory, scalybark hickory, shagbark, and upland hickory. Shagbark hickory is evenly distributed throughout the Eastern States and, together with pignut hickory, furnishes the bulk of the commercial hickory. The tough resilient properties of the wood make it suitable for products subject to impact and stress. The sweet nuts, once a staple food for American Indians, provide food for wildlife.Shagbark hickory is found throughout most of the Eastern United States from southeastern Nebraska and southeastern Minnesota through southern Ontario and southern Quebec to southern Maine, southward to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and eastern Texas, and disjunctly in the mountains of northeastern Mexico. It is largely absent from the southeastern and Gulf coastal plains and lower Mississippi Delta areas. Sites occupied by shagbark hickory vary greatly. In the North it is found on upland (often south-facing) slopes, while farther south it is more prevalent on soils of alluvial origin. In the Ohio Valley, shagbark grows chiefly on north and east slopes of fertile uplands; in the Cumberland Mountains it is confined to the coves and the north and east slopes; and in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana it grows principally in river bottoms. Shagbark is found on better sites up to elevations of 910 m (3,000 ft) in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Carolinas and on north and east-facing benches at elevations above 610 m (2,000 ft) in northern Arkansas. Shagbark hickory is a medium-sized tree averaging 21 to 24 m (70 to 80 ft) tall, 30 to 61 cm (12 to 24 in) in d.b.h., and may reach heights of 40 m (130 ft) with a diameter of 122 cm (48 in). The tree characteristically develops a clear straight cylindrical bole, but there is a tendency for the main stem to fork at one-half to two-thirds of the tree height. Although shagbark is one of the fastest growing hickories, its growth rates are less than most of the oaks and other associated species in upland stands. Hickories serve as food for many wildlife species. The nuts are a preferred food of squirrels and are eaten from the time fruits approach maturity in early August until the supply is gone....chipmunks, black bears, gray and red foxes, rabbits, and white-footed mice plus bird species such as mallards, wood ducks, bobwhites, and wild turkey utilize small amounts of hickory nuts. Hickory is not a preferred forage species and seldom is browsed by deer when the range is in good condition. Two varieties of shagbark hickory are recognized: Carya ovata var. ovata, which includes C. mexicana Engelm. ex Hemsl., and C. ovata var. australis (Ashe) Little, sometimes known as C. carolinae-septentrionalis (Ashe) Engl. & Graebner and often referred to as Carolina hickory or southern shagbark hickory.
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
There might be other entries in Pale Fire, but I will quote a few concerning "shagbark- hickory" and flying onto "maidenhair-gingko" via Kinbote.
JOHN SHADE Canto I, lines 49/58
"I had a favorite young shagbark there/ With ample dark jade leaves and a black, spare,/ Vermiculated trunk.../ It is now stout and rough... where gently seems to sway/ The phantom of my little daughter's swing."
Canto III, lines 650/52
"..no phantom would/ Rise gracefully to welcome you and me/ In the dark garden, near the shagbark tree."
Canto IV, lines 989/990
"I can see/ part of your shadow near the shagbark tree"
KINBOTE page 89(commentary to lines 47/48) "sometimes when the poet paced back and forth across his lawn, or sat down for a moment on the bench at the end of it, or paused under his favorite hickory tree, I could distinguish the expression of passionate interest..." ;
page 93( line 49: shagbark) : "A hickory. Our poet shared with the English master the noble knack of transplanting trees into verse with their sap and shade...
Queen Disa, "whose favorite trees were the jacaranda and the maidenhair, copied out in her album a quatrain from John Shade's collection... The Sacred Tree... Gingko leaf, in golden hue, when shed,/ A muscat grape..."..." a cat-and-mouse game in the second line, and "tree" in Zemblan is grados"
There are several mentions in "Ada"to (Shade's?) Gingko biloba- maidenhair, then leading to blottings, blooms and blobs ( ruptured virginity), attic scenes and dried plants. I select one marvel of condensation from that novel:
"Maidenhair. Idiot! Percy boy might have been buried by now! Maidenhair. Thus named because of the huge spreading Chinese tree at the end of the platform. Once, vaguely, confused with the Venus'-hair fern. She walked to the end of the platform in Tolstoy's novel. First exponent of the inner monologue, later exploited by the French and the Irish. N'est vert, n'est vert, n'est vert. L'arbre aux quarante écus d'or, at least in the fall. Never, never shall I hear again her 'botanical' voice fall at biloba, 'sorry, my Latin is showing.' Ginkgo, gingko, ink, inkog. Known also as Salisbury's adiantofolia, Ada's infolio, poor Salisburia: sunk; poor Stream of Consciousness, marée noire by now. Who wants Ardis Hall!"
Investigating a little on the shagbark I learned that it
From excerpta written by David L. Graney (on-line) I learned about the Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), of the Walnut family, as being "the most distinctive of all the hickories because of its loose-plated bark. Common names include shellbark hickory, scalybark hickory, shagbark, and upland hickory. Shagbark hickory is evenly distributed throughout the Eastern States and, together with pignut hickory, furnishes the bulk of the commercial hickory. The tough resilient properties of the wood make it suitable for products subject to impact and stress. The sweet nuts, once a staple food for American Indians, provide food for wildlife.Shagbark hickory is found throughout most of the Eastern United States from southeastern Nebraska and southeastern Minnesota through southern Ontario and southern Quebec to southern Maine, southward to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and eastern Texas, and disjunctly in the mountains of northeastern Mexico. It is largely absent from the southeastern and Gulf coastal plains and lower Mississippi Delta areas. Sites occupied by shagbark hickory vary greatly. In the North it is found on upland (often south-facing) slopes, while farther south it is more prevalent on soils of alluvial origin. In the Ohio Valley, shagbark grows chiefly on north and east slopes of fertile uplands; in the Cumberland Mountains it is confined to the coves and the north and east slopes; and in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana it grows principally in river bottoms. Shagbark is found on better sites up to elevations of 910 m (3,000 ft) in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Carolinas and on north and east-facing benches at elevations above 610 m (2,000 ft) in northern Arkansas. Shagbark hickory is a medium-sized tree averaging 21 to 24 m (70 to 80 ft) tall, 30 to 61 cm (12 to 24 in) in d.b.h., and may reach heights of 40 m (130 ft) with a diameter of 122 cm (48 in). The tree characteristically develops a clear straight cylindrical bole, but there is a tendency for the main stem to fork at one-half to two-thirds of the tree height. Although shagbark is one of the fastest growing hickories, its growth rates are less than most of the oaks and other associated species in upland stands. Hickories serve as food for many wildlife species. The nuts are a preferred food of squirrels and are eaten from the time fruits approach maturity in early August until the supply is gone....chipmunks, black bears, gray and red foxes, rabbits, and white-footed mice plus bird species such as mallards, wood ducks, bobwhites, and wild turkey utilize small amounts of hickory nuts. Hickory is not a preferred forage species and seldom is browsed by deer when the range is in good condition. Two varieties of shagbark hickory are recognized: Carya ovata var. ovata, which includes C. mexicana Engelm. ex Hemsl., and C. ovata var. australis (Ashe) Little, sometimes known as C. carolinae-septentrionalis (Ashe) Engl. & Graebner and often referred to as Carolina hickory or southern shagbark hickory.
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm