Shagbark Hickory

Carya ovata

Identification Information

Date: Sunday, June 13, 2021

Time: 4:15 p.m.

Location:  Hunsicker’s Grove (9350 Longswamp Road, Mertztown, PA 19539)

Habitat:  Temperate Mixed Forest, dominated by Hickory-Oak

Weather conditions:  75 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly humid, cloudy skies

This tree was an old wise guy!  Right next to the parking lot of the park, there was evidence that it had grown fairly removed from neighbors.  It was probably a tree lining the original farming property.  I estimated that the tree was about 80 feet tall.  The leaves were close to a foot long with five leaflets that are pinnate.   

The biggest identifier is the bark of the tree.  It is, as named, shaggy!  We found a few old nuts on the ground that could not be absolutely identified since they had been decomposing for too long.  (Brockman, 1986, p. 96)

I really want to try a hickory nut now.  I found out while reading that the word hickory comes from an old Algonquian word, "pawcohiccora," which references the meat of the nut and a hickory nut milk that they used to make!

Carya ovata. (2021, June 6). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 

     Carya_ovata