Carya ovata

Shagbark Hickory
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Juglandaceae
Genus:	Carya
Species:	C. ovata
Binomial name
Carya ovata (Mill.) K.Koch

The Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) is a common hickory in the eastern United States and southeast Canada. It is a large deciduous tree, growing up to 27 m tall, and will live up to 200 years. Mature Shagbarks are easy to recognize because, as their name implies, they have shaggy bark. This character is however only found on mature trees; young specimens have smooth bark.

The Shagbark Hickory's nut is edible and has a very sweet taste.

The leaves are 30–60 cm long, pinnate, with five (rarely three or seven) leaflets, the terminal three leaflets much larger than the basal pair. The flowers are small wind-pollinated catkins, produced in spring. The fruit is a drupe, an edible nut, 2.5–4 cm long contained in a thick, green four-sectioned husk which turns dark and splits off at maturity in the fall and a hard, bony shell.^[1] The terminal buds on the Shagbark Hickory are large and covered with loose scales. ^[2]

Typical bark

There are two varieties:

• Carya ovata var. ovata (Northern Shagbark Hickory). Largest leaflets over 20 cm long; nuts 3–4 cm long.
• Carya ovata var. australis (Southern Shagbark Hickory or Carolina Hickory). Largest leaflets under 20 cm long; nuts 2.5–3 cm long.

Some sources consider Southern Shagbark Hickory as the separate species Carya carolinae-septentrionalis ^[3]

Distribution

Distribution Map for Shagbark Hickory

Shagbark hickory is found throughout most of the eastern United States, but it is largely absent from the southeastern and Gulf coastal plains and lower Mississippi Delta areas. ^[4]

Uses

The nuts are edible with an excellent flavor, and are a popular food among people and squirrels alike. They are unsuitable to commercial or orchard production: Shagbark Hickories can grow to enormous sizes but are unreliable bearers. The nuts can be used as a good substitute for their more southerly relative, the pecan and have nearly the same application in baking.

Shagbark Hickory wood is used for smoking meat and for making the bows of Native Americans of the northern area.

"Hickory" is derived from pawcohiccora, an Algonquin Indian word for the tree's oily nutmeat. ^[1] The nuts were a food source for Native Americans.^[5]

Hickory Syrup

The bark of the Shagbark Hickory is also used to flavor a bitter maple syrup-style syrup.

Nut exterior

Nut anatomy

Trunk detail

Closeup of leaves.

External links

• USDA forest service description
• Flora of North America: Carya ovata
• Comparison of Shagbark, Southern Shagbark, and Kingnut Hickory at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
• Carya ovata (= Carya ovata var. ovata ) images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
• Carya carolinae-septentrionalis (= Carya ovata var. australis ) images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
• Shagbark Hickory - large format diagnostic photos tree, leaves, bark, nuts
• northern shagbarks
• Carya ovata entry at the Plants for a Future database

References