Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)

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Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)

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 (Carya ovata)

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 Hickory (Carya ovata)

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).

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)

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

Durham Co., NC 4/9/05.

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)

Just-opened buds.

Durham Co., NC 4/9/05.

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)

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

Granville Co., NC 4/26/09.

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)

Granville Co., NC 4/26/09.

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)

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

Durham Co., NC 5/3/08.

More information:
Iowa State
Trees of Alabama and the Southeast
UCONN
Virginia Tech Dendrology

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cwcook@duke.edu

All photographs and text ©2010 by Will Cook unless otherwise indicated.