northern shagbark hickory

(Carya ovata)

Conservation Status
northern shagbark hickory
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

N5? - Secure

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Midwest

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

FACU - Facultative upland

     
           
 
Description
 
 

Northern shagbark hickory is a slow-growing, deciduous, hardwood tree. It rises on a single stem from a deep root system with a central taproot. In Minnesota mature trees are usually 40 to 60 tall and up to 24 in diameter at breast height. Large individuals can reach 130 in height and 48 in diameter. It is a long-lived tree, often surviving 200 years.

The trunk is straight, slender, and spreading at the base. It is distinct into the upper part of the crown and is often free of branches for ¾ of its length. The crown is narrow, rounded, and irregular. The branches are short, ascending, and spreading.

The bark on young trees is thin, smooth, and dark gray. As it ages it becomes ashy gray and separates into long strips that are loosely attached at the middle. These strips are free and curl away from the trunk at the top and bottom. The bark is shaggy in appearance, much like silver maple. It is the tree’s most distinctive feature and makes recognition easy.

The twigs are stout, grayish-brown to reddish-brown, with numerous lighter dots (lenticels). In their first year they are covered with whitish hairs. In the second year they become less hairy or hairless. They are round in cross section and have star-shaped pith. The leaf scars are slightly raised and 3-lobed to semicircular. They have many bundle scars that are either scattered or arranged in 3 clusters forming a monkey face pattern.

Terminal buds are tan to dark brown, to ¾ long, and egg-shaped, with 6 to 9 thin, overlapping scales. The outer scales are loosely spreading and often broken. The inner scales are densely covered with short, matted or tangled, soft, woolly hairs. Lateral buds are similar but much shorter, diverge from the twig, and have 2 protective bracts at the base.

The leaves are deciduous, alternate, 8 to 14 long, and pinnately divided into usually 5, rarely 7, leaflets. They are on 2 to 4¾ long, minutely hairy leaf stalks.

The 3 upper leaflets are elliptical or narrowly elliptical, 4 to 8 long, and 13 16 to 3½ wide. The 2 basal leaflets are similar in shape but much smaller. The terminal leaflet is the largest of the 5. It is sometimes inversely egg-shaped and is on a 3 16 to long leaf stalk. The lateral leaflets are stalkless or nearly stalkless. The blades are widest in the middle and taper toward both ends. They taper unevenly to a blunt base, and taper to a point at the tip with concave sides along the tip. The upper surface is dark yellow-green and hairless. The lower surface is pale yellow-green and hairless except occasionally for hairs along the midvein. The margins are finely or coarsely toothed with sharp, forward pointing teeth. There are 2 or 3 small tufts of white hairs below the summit of each tooth. These may not be visible without a hand lens. In autumn the leaves turn golden yellow.

Male and female flowers are borne on the same branch. They appear when the leaves are nearly full size in early May to early mid-June. The male inflorescence is 3 cylindrical, drooping clusters (catkins) of numerous tiny flowers. Each catkin is 2 to 4¾ long. The 3 catkins are attached to a single stalk rising from the base of current-year twigs, and from leaf axils of previous season leaves. The female inflorescence is 2 to 4 flowers on a 5 16 long spike at the end of current-year twigs.

The fruit is a nut enclosed in a thick, tan, woody husk. The husk is 1 to 19 16 long, slightly less wide, to thick, and spherical but somewhat compressed on the top. It is split into 4 sections by sutures that run from the stalk to the base. They are not winged but are ribbed at the sutures. The fruit ripens in September and October and is dispersed from September to December. The ripened husk splits open at the base to release the nut. The nut is oblong egg-shaped, compressed at the top, prominently 4-angled near the top, and rounded at the base. The shell is thin and the kernel is sweet and edible.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

40 to 60

 
     
 

Record

 
 

The champion northern shagbark hickory in Minnesota is on state property in or near Freeburg, in Houston County. In 2009 it was measured at 93 tall and 92 in circumference (29 in diameter), with a crown spread of 59.

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

Green

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) bark forms shallow ridges and furrows, not peeling strips. Current-year twigs have whitish hairs near the tip but are otherwise hairless. The buds are sulphur-yellow and have 2 to 4 valve-like bud scales. The leaves have 7 or 9, rarely 11, leaflets. The leaf margins do not have small tufts of hairs. The fruits are smaller, ¾ to 13 16 long, and have a thin, leathery husk.

Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) leaf margins do not have small tufts of hairs.

Southern shagbark hickory (Carya carolinae-septentrionalis) has shorter catkins and smaller fruits. It does not occur in Minnesota.

Wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) plants look similar to hickory seedlings. The outer (closest to the petiole) leaflets of sarsaparilla leaves are always larger than the inner (closest to the terminal segment) leaflets.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Moist to dry. Wet bottomlands, dry uplands, exposed ridge tops, south-facing slopes. Shade tolerant when young.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

Early May to early mid-June

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 24, 28, 29, 30.

 
  5/22/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Superorder Rosanae  
 

Order

Fagales (beeches, oaks, walnuts, and allies)  
 

Family

Juglandaceae (walnut)  
  Subfamily Juglandoideae (walnut)  
  Tribe Juglandeae  
  Subtribe Caryinae  
  Genus Carya (hickory)  
  Section Carya (typical hickories)  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Carya ovata var. fraxinifolia

Carya ovata var. nuttallii

Carya ovata var. ovata

Carya ovata var. pubescens

Hicoria alba

Hicoria borealis

Hicoria ovata

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

northern shagbark hickory

scalybark hickory

shagbark

shagbark hickory

shellbark hickory

upland hickory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Axil

The upper angle where a branch, stem, leaf stalk, or vein diverges.

 

Bract

Modified leaf at the base of a flower stalk, flower cluster, or inflorescence.

 

Catkin

A slim, cylindrical, drooping cluster of many flowers. The flowers have no petals and are either male or female but not both.

 

Lenticel

A corky, round or stripe-like, usually raised, pore-like opening in bark that allows for gas exchange.

 

Pinnate

On a compound leaf, having the leaflets arranged on opposite sides of a common stalk. On a bryophyte, having branches evenly arranged on opposite sides of a stem.

 
 
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Randy

 
 

Shagbark hickory, October 2017, Freeborn County, Minnesota.

 
    northern shagbark hickory      
           
 

Shagbark hickory nuts, October 2017, Freeborn County, Minnesota.

 
    northern shagbark hickory   northern shagbark hickory  
           
 

Stand of Northern Shagbark Hickory in winter

 
    northern shagbark hickory      
           
 

Stand of Northern Shagbark Hickory

 
    northern shagbark hickory      
           
 

Basswood on left next to Shagbark

 
    northern shagbark hickory      
           
 

Double-trunked shagbark hickory

 
    northern shagbark hickory      
           
 

Deep green late-summer foliage of northern shagbark hickory

 
    northern shagbark hickory      
           
 

Northern Shagbark Hickory, Freeborn County, MN, August 2016

 
    northern shagbark hickory      
           
 

View into canopy of Northern Shagbark Hickory growing wild in Freeborn County, MN, at the very western edge of the natural range of the species

  northern shagbark hickory  
         
    northern shagbark hickory      
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

Bark

 
    northern shagbark hickory   northern shagbark hickory  
           
    northern shagbark hickory      
           
 

Leaves

 
    northern shagbark hickory   northern shagbark hickory  
           
    northern shagbark hickory   northern shagbark hickory  

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
  Carya ovata
Blake C. Willson
 
  Carya ovata  
 
About

Shagbark Hickory

 

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

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Other Videos
 
  Trees with Don Leopold - shagbark hickory
ESFTV
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Oct 10, 2011

No description available.

   
  Shagbark Hickory identification ( Carya Ovata). It is a tree that early squirrel hunters look for
wvoutdoorman
 
   
 
About

Published on Aug 26, 2012

Shagbark Hickory identification video ( Carya Ovata) It is a tree that early squirrel hunters look for because of the prized nuts that they love.

   
  How to ID Carya ovata
Laura Deeter
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Oct 7, 2008

brief video covering the name and key ID features for Carya ovata

   
  Shagbark Hickory
SoMoCon's channel
 
   
 
About

Published on Mar 24, 2013

Shagbark Hickory is an interesting tree with a distinctive look.

   
  Shagbark hickory tree
Pat Rick
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Jul 21, 2011

http://www.tytyga.com/product/Shagbark+Hickory+Tree

   

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

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  Randy
October 2017

Location: Freeborn County, Minnesota

northern shagbark hickory  
  Randy
9/2016

Location: near IA/MN border

Deep green late-summer foliage of northern shagbark hickory

northern shagbark hickory  
  Randy
8/9/2016

Location: Freeborn County, MN

northern shagbark hickory  
  Randy
9/20/2015

Location: Freeborn County, MN

View into canopy of Northern Shagbark Hickory growing wild in Freeborn County, MN, at the very western edge of the natural range of the species

northern shagbark hickory  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
   

 

 

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