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Carya ovata |
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(Miller) K. Koch |
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by
Brad W. Roehl |
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I. Common Names: |
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shagbark hickory, shellbark hickory, caryer ovale, noyer tendre, scaly bark, white hickory, upland hickory, red heart hickory, sweet-walnut, and white-walnut
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II. Higher Taxa: |
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Class-- |
Dicotyledonae |
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Order-- |
Juglandales |
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Family-- |
Juglandaceae |
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Carya ovata's nut and compound leaves |
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Genus-- |
Carya |
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(Mabberley, 1987) |
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III. Identification: |
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Carya ovata can grow up to 46 meters in height. The bark is discribed as being "light gray, fissured or exfoliating, separating freely into long strips or broad plates that persist, ends often curling away from trunk.
The twigs are greenish, reddish, or orangish brown, retaining color or turning black on drying, stout or slender, hirsute or glabrous.
The terminal buds are tan to dark brown to black, ovoid, 6 to 18 mm, tomentose or nearly glabrous; bud scales imbricate; axillary buds protected by bracteoles fused into hood.
The leaves are 3 to 6 dm; petiole 4 to 13 cm, petiole and rachis hirsute or mainly glabrous.
The leaflets (3-)5(-7), lateral petiolules 0 to 1 mm, terminal petiolules 3 to 17 mm; blades ovate, obovate, or elliptic, not falcate, 4 to 26 X 1 to 14 cm, margins finely to coarsely serrate, with tufts of hairs in axils of proximal veins of serrations, often weathering to only a few in fall, apex acute to acuminate; surfaces abaxially hirsute with unicellular and 2 to 4 rayed fasciculate hairs, occasionally restricted to midrib and major veins or essentially without hairs, with few to many large peltate scales and small round, irregular, and 4-lobed peltate scales.
Staminate catkins are pedunculate, to 13 cm, stalks and bracts without hairs; anthers hirsute. The fruits are brown to reddish brown, spheric to depressed-spheric, not compressed, 2.5 to 4 X 2.5 to 4 cm; husks rough, 4 to 15 mm thick, dehiscing to base, sutures smooth; nuts tan, ovoid, obovoid, or ellipsoid, compressed, 4-angled, rugulose; shells thick. The seeds are sweet in flavor." (FONAEC, 1997)
Carya ovata was first discribed by K. Koch (Hooker & Jackson, 1960). The Berlin Botanical Garden obtained his samples in 1913; however they were destroyed in March 1943. A number of duplicates exist today (Cowan and Stafleu, 1979).
The shagbark hickory also produces the "best commerical nuts on the market (Dean, 1988)." |
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(Photo courtesy of the University of Georgia Herbarium) |
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The Shagbark Hickory |
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(Photo courtesy of the University of Georgia Herbarium) |
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IV. Geography: |
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The shagbark hickory grows in Alabama, the central and northern parts of the Southern states from Florida to Texas, Minnesota, and Quebec (Dean, 1988). |
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Caya ovata Distibution in Nature
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STATUS |
REFERENCES |
North America:
Continental United States; Canada |
Yes |
Dean, 1988 |
Eastern North America:
United States east of the Mississippi; Ontario and Eastern Canada |
Yes |
Dean, 1988 |
Southeastern United States:
AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV |
Yes |
Dean, 1988 |
Southern Appalachain States:
AL, GA, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV |
Yes |
Dean, 1988 |
| Coastal Plain |
Yes |
Flora of North America Ed. Committee, 1997 |
| Piedmont |
Yes |
Flora of North America Ed. Committee, 1997 |
| Blue Ridge Mountains |
Yes |
Flora of North America Ed. Committee, 1997 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
Yes |
Flora of North America Ed. Committee, 1997 |
| Ridge and Valley |
Yes |
Flora of North America Ed. Committee, 1997 |
| Cumberland Plateau |
Yes |
Flora of North America Ed. Committee, 1997 |
| Central Arch |
Yes |
Flora of North America Ed. Committee, 1997 |
| Georgia |
Yes |
Jones & Coile, 1988 |
| Clarke County, Georgia |
Yes |
Jones & Coile, 1988 |
| Sams Farm |
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| Old Field |
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| Wetlands |
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| Woods |
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| 1-Hectare Plot |
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V. Natural History: |
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The flowers on shagbark appear from March to June, and they are borne in separate staminate and pistillate catkins. The fruit ripens around September or October ( Vines, 1960). "The shagbark hickory has been cultivated since 1911. The minium seed-bearing age is 40 years old; however, the optimum seed-bearing age is 60 to 200 years old. The maximum age for seed-bearing is 300 years. The seed may be planted in the fall or spring; however, the spring seed should be stratified in sand, peat, or sandy, loam at 35 F to 45F for 90 to 150 days." (Vines, 1960). |
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VI. How to Encounter: |
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Carya ovata can be found in the "mixed hardwoods east of Camp Creek P.B., Church, 9 miles WSW of Milledgeville, Georgia (University of Georgia Herbarium)." However, it is common enough in the Southern United States that it can be found just about anywhere. |
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VII. References: |
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Cowan, Richard S., Frans A. Stafleu. 1979. Taxonomic Literature Volume 2 H-Le 2nd ed.
Dean, Blanche Evans. 1988. Trees and Shrubs of the Southeast. Birmingham Audoban Society Press. Birmingham, AL.
Flora of North America Editorial Commitee. 1997. Flora of North America: North of Mexico Volume 3. Oxford University Press. New York, NY.
Hooker and Jackson. 1960. Index Kewensis A-J. Oxford University Press. London, England.
Jones, S.B. & N.C. Coile. 1988. Distribution of the Vascular Flora of Georgia. Dept of Botany, University of Georgia. Athens, GA.
Mabberly, D.J.. 1987. The Plant Book. Cambridge University Press. England.
University of Georgia Herbarium.
Vines, Robert A. 1960. Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Southeast. University of Texas Press. Texas. |
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