Carya pallida

(Ashe) Engl. & Graebn

by Brad W. Roehl

I. Common Names:

Sand Hickory, Pale Hickory, and Pallid Hickory

II. Higher Taxa:

Class--

Dicotyledonae

Order--

Juglandales

Family--

Juglandaceae

The Sand Hickory Tree Bark (C. pallida)

Genus--

Carya

(Mabberley, 1987)

III. Identification:

Carya pallida gets its common name from the pale, grayish, and rough bark. The bark sometimes appears to be dark gray. The southward bark is almost black, and it is rough and deeply furrowed (Dean, 1988). It can reach a height of 29 meters. The twigs are reddish brown in color. They are also "slender, slightly scaly, and sometimes pubescent (FONAEC, 1997)." The terminal buds are "reddish brown, ovoid, 4 to 11mm, sparsely to densely scaly; outer bud scales with course hairs on midribs, bud scales imbricate; axillary buds protected by bracteoles fused into hood (FONAEC, 1997)." The leaves are "3 to 6 dm; petiole 3 to 10 cm, rachis sparingly hirsute near base, densely hirsuteand scaly distally (FONAEC, 1997)."

(Photo courtesy of the University of Georgia Herbarium)

The leaflets are described as being "(5-)7(-9), lateral petrioles 0 to 1 mm, terminal petiolules 2 to 5 mm; blades ovate to obovate or elliptic, not falcate, 2 to 15 X 1 to 6 cm, margins

finely to coarsely serrate, apex acuminate; surfaces abaxially hirsute toward base of midrib, otherwise without hairs or rarely hirsute with unicellular and 2 to 8 rayed fasciculate hairs, abundant large peltate scales and small 4-lobed, irregular, and round peltate scales imparting silvery tan color, adaxially glabrous except for dense fasciculate hairs at base near leaf insertions, moderately to densely scaly in spring (FONAEC, 1997)."

"Staminate catkins pedunculate, to 13 cm, stalks hirsute, scaly, bracts scaly, hirsute at apex; anthers hirsute (FONAEC, 1997)." The fruits are described as "tan to reddish brown, obovoid to spheric or ellipsoid, slightly compressed, 3 to 4 X 2 to 3 cm; husks rough, 2 to 4 mm thick, dehiscing to middle or base, sutures smooth; nuts tan, obovoid to spheric or ellipsoid, slightly compressed, not angled, rugulose; shells thick (FONAEC, 1997)." The fruits are also sweet in flavor.

Carya pallida's

Compound Leaf and Fruit

IV. Geography:

Carya pallida's

Natural Distribution in the United States

(Information gathered from the species distribution picture of Carya pallida in the book, Flora of North America:North of Mexico, 1997)

(Photo courtesy of the University of Georgia Herbarium)

Carya pallida is located in New Jersey, Southern Delaware, and in the southern part of the Maryland penninsula. It is common in the rich soil of Gloucester and James City Counties, Virginia. It is also common in the rich soil of Southeast Virginia through the Piedmont region of North Carolina and South Carolina. The sand hickory is common in Northern and Central Georgia. The sand hickory is located in Southeastern Tennessee, and it occasionally reaches the Georgia Coast. It also occasssionly reaches the southwestern part of the state, and in Western Florida. It inhabits southern Mississippi to Northeastern Louisiana and extends northward to the valley of Alabama (Sargent, 1965).

Carya pallida Distribution AREA STATUS REFERENCES North America: Continental United States; Canada Yes Jones & Coile, 1988 Eastern North America: United States eas of Mississippi; Ontario and eastern Canada Yes FONAEC, 1997 Southeastern United States: AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV Yes Sargent, 1965 Southern Appalachain States: AL, GA, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV Yes Sargent, 1965 Coastal Plain Yes Sargent, 1965 Piedmont Yes Sargent, 1965 Blue Ridge Mountains Yes Jones & Coile, 1988 Great Smoky Mountains National Park Sparingly Coker & Totten, 1945 Ridge and Valley Yes FONAEC, 1997 Cumberland Plateau Yes FONAEC, 1997 Central Arch Yes FONAEC, 1997 Georgia Yes Jones & Coile, 1988 Clarke County, Georgia Yes Jones & Coile, 1988 Sams Farm ? -- Old Field ? -- Wetland ? -- Woods ? -- 1-Hectare Plot ? --

V. Natural History:

Carya pallida flowers from April 18 to May 8 (Coker & Totten, 1945). It also likes to grow in dry, sandy, or gravelly soils (Vines, 1960).

VI. How to Encounter:

Carya pallida is the common hickory in central in central Alabama from DeKalb to Henry county. It grows in "dry woods, Coastal Plain and adjacent provinces, Florida to Tennessee, and Virginia (Dean, 1988)." It also grows on bluffs, ridges, and rolling hills (FONAEC, 1997)." Carya pallida can be found by using the following location; however, it is common enough in the Southeastern United States that it can be found almost anywhere. "The small tree in dry sand overlying clay between the gully and powerline clearing beside Co. Rd. 10, ca. 15 miles northwest of Camp Creek tributary, in Macon County ca. 2.4 (air) miles north-northwest of Andersonville (Sumter County) (University of Georgia Herbarium).

VII. References:

Coker, and Totten. 1945. Trees of the Southeastern States. Van Rees Press. New York, NY. Dean, Blanche Evans. 1988. Trees and Shrubs of the Southeast. Birmingham Audoban Society Press. Birmingham, AL. Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 1997. Flora of North America: North of Mexico Volume 3. Oxford University Press. New York, NY. 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. Sargent, Charles Sprague. 1965. Manual of the Trees of North America Volume 1. Dover Publications Inc.. New York, NY. University of Georgia Herbarium. Vines, Robert A. 1960. Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Southeast. University of Texas Press. Texas.