tree
Shagbark hickory
Carya ovata
Low riskEdiblecommon
Long curling bark plates and the sweetest wild nut in the county.
Bark peels in long vertical strips, loose at both ends. Leaves usually have five big leaflets. Nuts are thick-shelled with sweet four-ridged kernels.
- Habitat
- Upland woods and old fields returning to timber.
- Season
- Nuts September–October.
- Size
- 60–90 ft
- Field marks
- Shaggy plates; 5 leaflets; sweet nut
Use
Eating nut, hickory milk, smoking wood (the gold standard), tool handles, first-rate firewood.