Welcome to the Hickory Tree site.
The Hickory Tree is a tree prized for it's use in tools and equipment because of it's hard wood. The Hickory Tree is also used for fire wood and the Hickory flavor it adds to smoked meats. It is a great tree in areas with high winds because of the tap roots that go down deep in the earth making the trees very wind resistant. Man and animals enjoy the nut from the Hickory Tree.
The Hickory Tree is in the Walnut Family, The Genus is Hickory ( Carya ) Carya is the Greek name for nut.
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Not sure what kind of Hickory nut you have? Here are pictures and discriptions of different kinds.
Comparison of the features of the different kinds of Hickory Trees.
Southern Shagbark Hickory ----- Carya carolinae-septentrionalis- also called king nut hickory because it has the largest nut. It takes 40 years to start producing nuts peak nut production is between 75-200 years. They can live to be 300 years old. Uses of Shellbark Hickory
Compare pictures of the Shagbark Hickory.
Great pictures of the Shagbark tree, leaves, and the Shaggy bark.The tree grows to about 100 feet and it's branches can spread to 25 feet. It has both male ( catkins) and female (petallets) flowers.
Interesting story of a 200 year old recipe for making Hickory Syrup from the bark of the Shagbark hickory tree.
Appalachian Voices The virtues of the hickory tree.
Find out more about plants and animals in your region of North America.
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 Shagbark Hickory The Shagbark Hickory tree, Carya ovata, has a distinctive, shaggy bark, conspicuous on tall straight trees, which gives this species its name. It grows well in both wet and dry areas, but prefers well-drained soils. Shellbark hickory trees are also called shagbark hickory, bigleaf shagbark hickory, kingnut, big shellbark, bottom shellbark, thick shellbark, and western shellbark, which attest to some of its characteristics. It is a slow-growing long-lived tree. The nuts, largest of all hickory nuts, are sweet and edible. Wildlife and people harvest most of them; those remaining produce seedling trees readily. The wood is hard, heavy, strong, and very flexible, making it a favored wood for tool handles. The wood also makes excellent firewood, and often is used in smoking meat. As with other edible nuts, squirrels compete with humans for this fruit. Its bold-textured, jagged branch structure and thick twigs give it a striking appearance in winter. This deciduous shade tree has a yellow fall color. |
 Shellbark Hickory The Shellbark Hickory tree, Carya laciniosa, is also know as bigleaf shagbark, kingnut, big shellbark, bottom shellbark, thick shellbark and western shellbark). This deciduous tree is similar to that of the Shagbark Hickory, but often not quite as shaggy. The fruit is larger than other hickories. This is a big tree and it prefers wet, fertile bottomland. It is less common than either the Shagbark or Bitternut Hickories. The wood is similar to that of the Shagbark Hickory and is used in much the same way. Its sweet, huge nuts are relished by squirrels and give it an alternative common name of King Nut Hickory, due to their being the largest of the hickories. Like other hickories, it is very tolerant of summer drought. The nuts of shellbark hickory are utilized by wildlife (ducks, quail, wild turkeys, squirrels, chipmunks, deer, foxes, raccoons, and white-footed mice) and man. This tall shade tree displays a yellow fall color. |
 Pignut Hickory The Pignut Hickory tree, Carya glabra, has medium green broad, flat leaves and firm, gray bark. The bark may be marked in a sort of diamond pattern by shallow furrows and narrow ridges. This tree grows well in fairly rich, well drained to dry soils. It occurs with other hickories and with oaks, characteristically on hillsides and ridges. Pignut Hickory trees, as with other hickories, has wood that is tough and strong. The nuts of this particular hickory, unlike some of the others, are bitter and scarcely edible. The nuts they are an important food for squirrels and chipmunks and other wildlife. This shade tree turns a bright yellow for great fall color. |
 Bitternut Hickory The Bittenut Hickory, Carya cordiformis, is also known as the Yellow-bud Hickory tree. The yellow bud makes it difficult to mistake for another species and combined with the alternate compound leaves and relatively large nuts, it is very distinctive. The nuts are reported to be bitter, as one of the common names suggests. The lighter colored shallow cracks in the younger bark are roughly similar to those of young Shagbark Hickory, but the mature bark of Yellow-bud Hickory does not split so deeply. This deciduous tree is found on moist, fertile soils in the east and central U. S. and is intolerant of shade. Bitternut Hickory trees are known for their hard wood. The wood is used for pulpwood and furniture. This deciduous species displays a leaf color of medium green to dark green. The fall color is often green to chartruese, but sometimes is a brilliant golden-yellow in excellent seasons. It is a fast growing, adaptable tree. |
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