Carya ovata
Object Details
- Hardiness
- -30 - 20 F
- Bloom Time
- April to May
- Ethnobotanical Uses
- Shagbark hickory nuts are sweet and edible, and have been eaten raw and roasted by Native Americans and pioneers in the tree's growing range. Hickory nuts and are still grown commercially, although they are much less common than pecans. Some Native Americans also extracted oil from the nuts. The wood is also used to cure or smoke meat.
- Provenance
- From a cultivated plant not of known wild origin
- Range
- E North America
- Habitat
- dry, upland slopes to wet valleys
- Topic
- Trees
- Living Collections
- See more items in
- Smithsonian Gardens Tree Collection
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Gardens
- Accession Number
- 2011-2854A
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Common Name
- Shabgark Hickory
- Group
- [vascular plants]
- Class
- Equisetopsida
- Subclass
- Magnoliidae
- Superorder
- Rosanae
- Order
- Fagales
- Family
- Juglandaceae
- Genus
- Carya
- Species
- ovata
- Life Form
- Deciduous tree
- Average Height
- 70-90'
- Bark Characteristics
- Young trees have smooth gray bark, but mature trees have characteristic shaggy bark which peels in long strips.
- Bloom Characteristics
- Male flowers are catkins (3-5" long), and female flowers grow in short spikes.
- Fall Color
- Yellow to brown
- Foliage Characteristics
- Compound, alternate leaves are 8-24" long with an odd number of oblong leaflets with pointed tips and serrated margins. Typically has 5 leaflets, but can have 3-7 which are 3-5" long.
- Fruit Characteristics
- Oval to round fruit is green, matures to brown, and 1-3" long. When mature, splits into 4 sections. Edible, and ripen in fall.
- Key ID Characteristics
- Shaggy, mature bark
- Structure
- Oval
- Metadata Usage
- Not determined
- Record ID
- ofeo-sg_2011-2854A
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