Shagbark Hickory is a distinctive tree of rich bottomlands with very shaggy bark, thick light gray twigs, and large terminal buds.

Orange Co., NC 3/20/10.

Shagbark Hickory is fairly common, more abundant than the other shaggy-barked hickories, the uncommon Carolina Shagbark Hickory (C. carolinae-septentrionalis) and very rare Shellbark Hickory (C. laciniosa). Bark on most trees is quite shaggy, but the bark of young trees and very large trees is not.

Shagbark can be told from Shellbark by its five leaflets (7-9 for Shellbark) and from Carolina Shagbark by its relatively thick tan-gray twigs (young twigs of Carolina Shagbark are thin and blackish) and habitat difference (Carolina Shagbark grows in uplands).

The terminal buds are large, especially when they're about to break bud.

Durham Co., NC 4/9/05.

Just-opened buds.

Durham Co., NC 4/9/05.

Male flowers, in catkins, appear in mid-spring.

Granville Co., NC 4/26/09.

Granville Co., NC 4/26/09.

The leaf teeth have clusters of hairs on their tips, which may wear off by late summer/fall.

Durham Co., NC 5/3/08.