Description

Leaves: Alternate; once pinnately compound; 12" to 20" long; 9-17 leaflets, 4" to 7" long, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, serrate margins, terminal leaflet present; rachis slender, glabrous; deciduous.

Twigs/Buds: Twigs moderately stout; reddish-brown; pith solid.  Terminal bud present, 1/4" to 1/2" long, yellow-brown.

Flowers/Fruit: Monoecious.  Flowers inconspicuous; appear after the leaves expand.  Fruit a nut; 1" to 2-1/2" long; twice as long as wide; with a thin, green turning dark brown, 4 part husk; husk splits readily to release oblong nut; nut smooth or slightly 4-ridged, with thin to medium-thick shell and sweet seed.

Bark: Light brown to brownish-gray; smooth when young breaking into scaly ridges.

Wood: Similar to bitternut hickory.

General: Native throughout the Mississippi River valley from eastern Iowa to Louisiana, west to eastern Kansas and central Texas.  Occurs naturally as scattered trees on moist but well drained soils.  Intermediate shade tolerance.

Landscape Use: Planted throughout the southern U.S. for its fruit, this tree also has been grown successfully in plantations in Washington County.   Warm sites are best, but this will likely vary widely with a tree's geographic origins.  I have seen a tree growing and producing fruit in Logan, Utah.  Zones 5-9.

Comments & Limitations:  Nuts can be nuisances.

Characteristics