Low riskEdible
Shagbark hickory
Carya ovata
Long curling bark plates and the sweetest wild nut in the county.
- Marks
- Shaggy plates; 5 leaflets; sweet nut
- Size
- 60–90 ft
- Habitat
- Upland woods and old fields returning to timber.
- Season
- Nuts September–October.
- Frequency
- common
Bark peels in long vertical strips, loose at both ends. Leaves usually have five big leaflets. Nuts are thick-shelled with sweet four-ridged kernels.
Uses
Eating nut, hickory milk, smoking wood (the gold standard), tool handles, first-rate firewood.
Lookalikes
Bitternut hickory
Carya cordiformis
Sulfur-yellow buds, tight bark, bitter nuts. Smoke wood, not table nuts.
Low riskNot food