|
 |
Carya sp. - Hickory
Juglandaceae -- Walnut family
Height: to 100' Spread: 40-50' Habit / Form: Upright /
Hardy to USDA Zone 3
|
|
|
|
Hickory Nuts, Mid-July
|
|
Hickory grows well in both dry and wet soil
condition, but prefers well-drained soils such as those
found here, on a bluff overlooking the West Branch of the
DuPage River in Northern Illinois. This bluff is the site of
a Late Woodland period aboriginal settlement responsible for
the effigy burial mounds found nearby. Shagbarks are
commonly found in association with oak trees. The wood is hard, strong, tough and elastic, and is
used in handles for tools and in athletic equipment. The
wood also makes excellent firewood, and often is used in
smoking meat. Squirrels are extremely fond of the fruit of
the hickory, and some humans also use the nuts in baked goods,
cookies, cakes, salads and game dishes. |
|
Hickory
|
Flowering and Fruiting-
Hickory is monoecious-male and female
flowers are produced on the same tree.
Mockernut male flowers are catkins about 10
to 13 cm (4 to 5 in) long and may be
produced on branches from axils of leaves of
the previous season or from the inner scales
of the terminal buds at the base of the
current growth (4). The female flowers
appear in short spikes on peduncles
terminating in shoots of the current year.
Flowers bloom in the spring from April to
May, depending on latitude and weather.
Usually the male flowers emerge before the
female flowers. Hickories produce very large
amounts of pollen that is dispersed by the
wind.
Fruits are solitary or
paired and globose, ripening in September
and October, and are about 2.5 to 9.0 cm
(1.0 to 3.5 in) long with a short necklike
base. The fruit has a thick, four-ribbed
husk 3 to 4 mm (0.11 to 0.16 in) thick that
usually splits from the middle to the base.
The nut is distinctly four-angled with a
reddish-brown, very hard shell 5 to 6 mm
(0.20 to 0.23 in) thick containing a small
edible kernel (4,10,19,22). Seed Production
and Dissemination- The seed is dispersed
from September through December. |
|
| |
Hickory Bark |
|
Hickory requires a
minimum of 25 years to reach commercial
seed-bearing age. Optimum seed production
occurs from 40 to 125 years, and the maximum
age listed for commercial seed production is
200 years (4). Good seed crops occur every 2
to 3 years with light seed crops in
intervening years. Approximately 50 to 75
percent of fresh seed will germinate (26).
Fourteen mockernut hickory trees in
southeastern Ohio produced an average annual
crop of 6,285 nuts for 6 years; about 39
percent were sound, 48 percent aborted, and
13 percent had insect damage (28). Hickory
shuckworm (Laspeyresia caryana) is probably
a major factor in reducing germination. Seed
is disseminated mainly by gravity and
wildlife, particularly squirrels. Birds also
help disperse seed. Wildlife such as
squirrels and chipmunks often bury the seed
at some distance from the seed-bearing tree.
--USDA Forest Service Fact Sheet
|
sans
|
