Pignut hickory : Carya glabra


Kingdom : Plant
   Phylum : Magnoliophyta
          Class : Magnoliopsida
               Order : Juglandales
                    Family : Juglandaceae
                         Genus : Carya
                              Species : glabra (Miller)Sweet

Common name: Pignut hickory

Description:

Large tree, bark not shaggy, shallow furrows. Leaves, including petiole 1.5-4.5 dm long, pinnately compound with 5-7(rarely 3) leaflets.
Hickory leaves and trunk, Photo by David Byres Leaflets lanceolate, oblanceolate or ovate with asymmetrical bases, cuneate to rounded. The upper pair of leaflets 3-20 cm long, leaflet margin with slender incurved teeth.

Leaf surfaces glabrous except occasionally along midribs on lower surface. Leaflets sessile except for terminal leaflet which is short stalked.

Fruit obovoid or globose, distinct basal stipe; smooth or slightly ridged at sutures.

Husks usually split open only partially into 2-5 parts, often long after dropping from the tree. Husk thin, less than 1mm.


Habitat:


Dry to moist rich woods.

Distribution:

Eastern Maine west to southern Michigan, Illinois, southeastern Iowa, south to eastern Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and eastward to central Florida.

It is most abundant in the Ohio River basin and it is the most common hickory in the Appalachians.


Hickory nut, Photo by David Byres



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