Twigs: Stout, often hairy, gray-brown to reddish brown, with numerous light spots ([lenticels]). Buds large, with 3-4 outer dark brown, loosely fitting, nearly smooth scales; inner scales velvety; end buds ½″-¾″ long.
Fruit: Nearly round, 1″-2½″ in diameter; husk thick, splits into 4 pieces when ripe; nut white, 4-ridged, pointed at one end, usually thin-shelled; kernel sweet.
General: Bark at first smooth and gray, soon breaking into long and loosely-attached plates that gives the trunk a shaggy appearance. A medium-sized tree found on a variety of sites but most common on good soils; grows slowly. Wood used principally for tool handles. The wood of all hickories is valuable to the farmer for fuel and smoking meat.
SHELLBARK HICKORY
(Carya laciniosa)
Leaves: Compound, alternate; [leaflets] usually 7, each 4″-7″ long, hairy beneath, margins fine-toothed. Dried leaf-stems often cling all winter.
Twigs: Somewhat stouter than [shagbark hickory], usually hairy, often angled, orange-brown, with numerous orange spots ([lenticels]). Buds very large, with 6-8 outer dark brown, loosely fitting keeled scales; end buds ¾″-1″ long. Prominent orange-colored [leaf scars].
Fruit: Nearly round to almost egg-shaped, 1¾″-2¾″ long; husk thick, splits into 4 pieces when ripe; nut yellowish white to reddish brown, 4- to 6-ridged, pointed at both ends, usually thick-shelled; kernel sweet. Flowers appear in [catkins], as do all the hickories, when leaves are mature.
General: Bark like that of [shagbark hickory] but often with straighter plates (less shaggy). A medium-sized tree that prefers wet soils. Wood has same uses as shagbark hickory.
