They belong to the walnut family and are native to temperate regions of North America.
Where do hickory trees grow?
In North America, hickory trees are endemic in the eastern and midwestern regions.
They love being in sloped lands but some are naturalized in urban tweaks like parks and streets.
Hickory tree leaves
Hickory tree leaves have an alternating arrangement.
They are long, narrow, and pointy at the tip.
They also have an oval-shape and have serrated edges.
The entire hickory tree foliage is usually composed of dense leaflets and one terminal blade.
Interestingly, it has been found out each pinnate leaf is composed of an odd number of leaflets.
Hickory tree leaves measure from 6-24 inches long.
It is furrowed, ridged, and rough in texture.
Some hickory tree types have bark plates curling outward giving them a shaggy look.
Hickory tree barks pull away easily when they reach maturity.
When they peel off, they reveal shallow/deep inner bark ridges.
The spaces in between the inner ridges may also be wide or close.
Hickory tree nuts
Not all hickory trees produce edible nuts.
The nuts start as green balls gradually turning into a light to dark brown color.
They are as big as golf balls and their shape is like that of an egg.
The brown shells of the nuts give way to white or tan-colored kernels.
Each shell contains one hickory kernel.
The hickory tree types known for their edible nut would be shellbark hickory and shagbark hickory.
Pecan trees are also associated with nut-producing hickories although technically it is not a hickory tree.
However, since not all hickory trees produce nuts, identifying factors must be kept in mind.
There are three variables that you have to look out for: bark, leaves, and nuts.
It has long scaly plates with curled ends running through the barks length.
you might easily identify shellbarks and shagbarks in terms of bark.
Shellbarks have a smoother bark while shagbarks have curvier plates.
Leaves
Hickory trees have compound pinnate, alternating leaves.
It grows 17pairs of leaflets with one terminal leaf on the stem.
They are long, narrow, and pointy.
Shellbark hickory trees have longer leaves at 24inches.
Shagbarks have shorter leaves at 10inches.
Nuts
Edible hickory nuts are sweet, chewy, and tasty.
Pecan trees and shagbarks have the tastiest and most flavorful nuts.
Shellback nuts are also delicious and are considered as the largest hickory nuts of all.
12 of these are found in North America.
Here are 12 of the most common hickory trees out there.
Shellbark Hickory Tree/Kingnut hickory (Carya laciniosa)
This is a slow-growing, large hickory tree with slender trunks.
It has smooth, dark gray bark, long, curled plates with narrow grooves in between the plates.
Its foliage is composed of 9 leaflets and has very thick twigs.
The leaves are serrated and turn golden brown in the fall.
It is also called the kingnut because it produces the largest nuts (2.5inches long and 1.5inches wide).
Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)
It has this unique disheveled look thanks to its peeling gray bark.
It grows very tall at 120ft providing substantial shape in urban controls.
Young shagbarks have smooth barks but it will turn rough and shaggy at maturity.
Its distinct appearance makes it a good ornamental tree.
It produces edible nuts with a buttery taste.
Its leaves are long at 14inches producing 5-7leaflets at the base.
The leaves are serrated turning golden yellow during fall.
It has the same peeling bark with curled plates and a shaggy look.
The prime difference is that this one has smaller nuts.
It grows tall at 60-100ft with lancing branches.
Leaves of this hickory tree have a length 12inches, oval in shape, and serrated on the edges.
It produces 5leaflets at the base of the stem.
Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra)
It is also called smoothbark hickory.
Its bark is dark gray and unlike the others, it does not peel away from the trunk.
It will, however, develop deep grooves and scales when it becomes mature.
The black hickory is a popular ornamental tree used in open landscapes and wide woodlands.
The nuts of this hickory tree are pear-shaped with a bitter taste when eaten by humans.
Its nuts are a favorite of pigs, however, giving it its pignut name.
It is huge at 60-130ft and produces a dense canopy spreading to 75ft.
Its dark brown nuts are enclosed in tan shells.
They have a waxy texture and buttery taste.
The nuts of this tree are specifically famous because of its rich taste and chewiness.
Its bark is reddish-brown in color, does not peel but with deep fissures and flat scales.
The leaves of this tree are the pointiest of all hickory types.
Its foliage is fern-like in structure with each stem composed of 15leaflets at the base.
Mockernut Hickory (Carya tomentosa)
This one has the hardest nut to crack and grows at 60-80ft.
It typically has a round-shape crown and is also called as the white hickory.
The bark of this tree is dark gray with deep furrows and long fissures that are close together.
The bark does not generally peel but some mockernut cultivars have peeling barks.
Its leaves are pale green, more rounded than oval, slightly serrated, and have 5leaflets per stem.
Its bark rarely peels and its fissures follow a diamond pattern.
At youth, the bark of this tree is smooth and light gray in color.
As it matures, it becomes dark gray, develops deep fissures and gray-brown ridges.
It grows to up to 115ft and its twigs are slender and light green in color.
Its leaves have 5-9 broad leaflets per stem.
They have a light green color in the spring and summer and will turn golden yellow during fall.
Sand Hickory (Carya pallida)
This one is slow-growing hickory reaching a height of 80ft.
It has a smooth light gray bark with shallow, intersecting furrows.
It is slightly ridged and fissured too.
As for the leaves, this one has glossy and smooth pinnate leaves.
It typically has five-pointed leaflets.
Its nuts are comparable with the red hickory in terms of size and shape.
The only difference is that the nuts of this one are edible.
It is more of a shrub than a tree with its maximum height of 16ft.
In some instances, this tree could grow tall at 80ft when in the wild.
Its leaves are rich green in the spring and turn pale yellow in the fall.
The leaves are quite long (12inches) given its size.
It has seven leaflets at the base and produces small but edible nuts.
Its bark is slender, peeling with deep ridges and long fissures.
It is slow-growing and tall, reaching a height of 100ft.
It is, however, found scattered in southern US states.
Its bark is brownish gray and peeling in long plates.
Deep ridges are present in between.
Its leaves are pointy, long, and serrated on the edges.
They have a bright green color and a silvery underside.
Its nuts literally look like nutmegs.
They are as tasty and buttery too.
It produces small, round nuts that are sometimes sweet and sometimes bitter.
It has one of the most attractive barks because of its ash gray color and flat ridges.
The ridges are separated by thin, closely gapped fissures.
Fast-growing cultivars of red hickory tend to have peeled barks with curled plates.
Its leaves are glossy and smooth with finely jagged edges.
Seven leaflets emerge in each stem.
Black Hickory (Carya texana)
It gets its name from its dark gray bark with diamond pattern ridges.
Its leaves are oval-shaped, long, and slightly serrated on the edges.
It has three pairs of lancing leaflets emerging from the stem.
It is bright green in color with paler green undersides.
Its nuts are also bitter like the pignuts, providing food for wild animals and other critters.
What is hickory wood used for?
Aside from being known as the king of BBQ wood, hickory wood also comes with many other uses.
For domestic uses, hickory wood is favorite firewood used in traditional wood-burning stoves and in fire pits.
It is said that hickory wood emits a combination of sweet and woody odor that makes the food tastier.
Then and now, its known durability and water-resistance make it a popular wood in making hardwood floorings.
Are hickory nuts edible for humans?
Did you know that hickory nuts are considered as the most calorie-dense nuts in the wild?
It has a whopping 193 calories per nut according to science.
All hickory nuts are generally edible but some are just more tasty than others.
Among the common hickory trees, only the black hickory has bitter nuts.
The four tastiest hickory nuts include those coming from mockernut, pecan, shagbark, and shellbark.
Pignuts are also edible but not for humans as they are very bitter.
It provides food for hogs and other animals, however.
Pecan nuts are the most commercialized hickory nut.
It is tasty, chewy, and used in many cuisines both baked and savory.
Shagbark nuts are also commercialized.
They are considered as the tastiest hickory nuts with the most buttery taste.
Shagbark nuts are very underrated but they are used in home cooking and in commercial nut production.
Are hickory trees worth money?
Computing for a trees worth depends on its timber quality and durability.
Like all other trees, hickory trees are graded as high, medium, or low quality.
High-quality hickory wood is at par with the famous red oak amounting to $20-50 per log.
Medium quality hickories are used in cabinetry and other crafts.
Other than that, the nuts are commercially sold as they are used for baking and savory cuisines.
Nuts that are not that edible provide food for wildlife and other animals.
With these as the basis, we can say that hickory trees are worth the money.
How do I know if a hickory tree is sick?
If you see large red spots on leaf tops and brown spots underneath, you should start worrying.
But when early defoliation kicks in, that is one serious sign that your hickory tree is dying.
Before applying insecticides, you should carefully dispose of the infected leaves first.
This becomes visible when one part of the tree is wilting or completely dying off.
When all you could see is brown, that is when you know that the tree is dying.
This one is made evident by white powdery spots during the growing season.
This happens when the bark of the hickory tree is wounded.
So basically, like all other hardwood trees, hickory trees are not that disease-proof.
More often than not, they are also vulnerable to common wood diseases leaving common evidence of tree death.
Do caterpillars like Hickory leaves?
Yes, specifically white webworms.
These caterpillars are notorious for their love of hardwoods.
They stay on their leaves for 4-8 weeks.
The first attack on hardwoods like the hickory tree happens in between May to June.
The second generation of webworms are larger and can produce infestation.
They produce silk webs in the leaves and at the end of the branches of hickory trees.
This is not a serious case but overfeeding off the leaves may cause damage to the tree.
Conclusion
Hickory trees are very functional and hardy trees.
Their wood is used for drumsticks, paddles, golf clubs, and baseball bats.
It is also used for cabinets, furniture, and boxes.
In carpentry, hickory trees are used in constructing log cabins, cottages, and also floorboards.
With all of these, there is no wonder why hickory trees remain to be popular.
As shaggy as it may seem, it is a tree of many functions.
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