Flowers: Staminate and pistillate borne separately, but on the same tree, appearing when the leaves are partly grown, the staminate several in slender, drooping catkins up to 3 inches long, the pistillate fewer, in shorter spikes, neither type with petals.
Fruit: Short-ellipsoid, usually tapering to either end, flattened, up to 1½ inches long and two-thirds as broad, the husk 4-winged, dark brown but with yellow scales, thin, splitting only about halfway to the base, the nut flattened, 4-angled, reddish-brown, the shell thin, the seed bitter.
Wood: Heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, dark brown.
Uses: Fence posts, fuel.
Habitat: Swampy woods and drained floodplains.
Range: Virginia across to southeastern Missouri, south to Texas, east to Florida.
Distinguishing Features: Water Hickory is similar to Pecan and Bitternut Hickory in having 7 or more leaflets per leaf. However, it lacks the yellow buds of the Bitternut Hickory and the slender, edible nut of the Pecan. The leaves are generally hairier than those of the Pecan.
BITTERNUT HICKORY
Carya cordiformis (Wang.) K. Koch
Other Name: Yellow-bud Hickory.