15 November 2023
You’ll inform a tree by means of its nuts: Is that this a Pignut hickory?
Other species of hickory nuts glance the similar … however no longer rather. This one, partly in its husk, used to be a puzzle so I introduced it house. Husks and shells in combination give you the clues so I had 3 nuts to paintings with in more than a few phases of undress, plus a desk of southwestern PA hickory husk and shell traits.
Traits of Southwestern PA Hickory Husks and Shells
Commonplace Title | Clinical identify | ||
---|---|---|---|
Shagbark Hickory | Carya ovata | Just about spherical, 1.75″, thick, inexperienced, splits to base | Nut has 4 ribs |
Mockernut hickory | Carya tomentosa | Oval to pear formed, 1.75″, inexperienced, husk is thinner than shagbark’s, splits to base | Nut is thick-shelled with 4 ribs |
Pignut hickory | Carya glabra | Oval or somewhat pear formed, 1.5″, skinny husk inexperienced to tan, maturing to da rk brown, most often splits best partway to base |
Nut has no ribs |
Bitternut hickory | Carya cordiformis | Very skinny tough husk with 4 wings, splits best to the center as whether it is peeling off the shell | Nut is spherical, small and thin-shelled with a pointed tip |
The Verdict: The picture used to be taken after the nuts sat indoors for 3 weeks. The husk remains to be pear formed however has grew to become brown and splits utterly. Hmmm. The nut, then again, has no ribs so I’d say this can be a pignut.
Pignuts had been too sour for Ecu settlers so that they fed them to their pigs, therefore the identify. Alternatively pignuts are prized by means of natural world together with chipmunks, squirrels, mice, blue jays, red-bellied woodpeckers and wild turkeys. If deer consume them they are going to quickly disappear from the bottom in Pittsburgh’s parks.
Pignut hickories (Carya glabra) vary alongside the east coast (the unique colonies) all of the technique to the Mississippi Valley and right down to the Gulf of Mexico however don’t usually develop in northern Pennsylvania.
In wintry weather they’re easiest recognized by means of their buds. As with any hickories, the top bud is bigger than the aspect buds however at the pignut it’s quite small and the aspect buds are virtually at proper angles to the twig. This one is set to burst into spring leaves.
Younger timber have clean bark. Mature ones have those ridges.
The tree’s compound leaves have 5-7 serrated leaflets …
… which flip a gorgeous golden colour within the fall.
However now the timber are naked.
Learn extra about pignuts on the Glen Arboretum.
(credit are within the captions)