Shagbark hickory

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 old. 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.

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

Uses

The nuts are edible with an excellent flavor, and are a popular food among those who know them. The trees bear too seldom for them to be grown commercially. 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. The nuts were a food source for Native Americans.

Hickory Syrup

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

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
• The Lavant shagbarks
• http://whatscookingamerica.net/Stores/HickorySyrup.htm
• http://www.hickoryworks.com/