Pignuts …? | Out of doors My Window

15 November 2023

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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.

Pignuts in husk, shell with insect hollow, partly in husk, Nov 2023 (picture by means of Kate St. John)

Traits of Southwestern PA Hickory Husks and Shells

Commonplace Title	Clinical identify	Husk	Shell
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.

Pignut hickory vary (map from Wikimedia Commons)

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.