shagbark hickory (Carya ovata)
Juglandaceae, the walnut family
How to recognize shagbark hickory. As members of the walnut family, hickories (genus Carya) have large, alternately arranged, pinnately compound leaves. The number of leaflets is only 5-7 (sometimes up to 9) compared with the 11-23 leaflets seen on walnuts (genus Juglans).
Shagback hickory has 5-7 leaflets and thick-husked fruits.
The bark peels off in long wide strips. This is only evident on mature trees though.
The eponymous shaggy bark of shagbark hickory.
The fruits of tree of heaven are single-seeded winged affairs, called “samaras.”
Shagbark hickort nuts are 4-angles, with a husk that is aboit 1 cm thick.
In the winter. Shagbark hickory twigs are stout, with a true terminal bud covered with loose large busd scales. The leaf scars are large, alternately arranged, oval with with about a dozen bundle scars within.
Sharbark hickory twggies are biggies!
Where to find shagbark hickory. E. Lucy Braun, in The Woody Plants of Ohio (1961, 1989; The Ohio State University Press) tells us it is “Widely distributed in Ohio, and commonly associated with oaks in both dry and wet situations.”