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Shagbark Hickory

Carya ovata

Nothing else looks like a mature shagbark: the gray bark separates into long vertical plates that curl away at both ends, loose enough that bats roost behind them. It is slow, deep-rooted and very long-lived, and it puts down a taproot in its first season, which is why nursery stock transplants badly and nuts sown where they are to grow do better. The husk splits cleanly into four parts to release a sweet, thin-shelled nut, the best-flavored of the native hickories and worth beating the squirrels to. The seed can also be ground into a meal to thicken soups, or pounded and boiled to separate a rich nut milk used like butter; the spring sap reduces to a syrup. Hickories feed a very large roster of native caterpillars, luna and regal moths among them. Fall color is a warm gold, and the compound leaves drop as whole stalks rather than as leaflets.

Family

Juglandaceae

Type

tree

Lifespan

perennial

Height

70–90 ft

Spacing

50–70 ft apart

Light

sun, part shade, shade

Soil moisture

dry, moist

Soil pH

acidic, neutral

Bloom

March, April, May, June

Bloom colors

green, brown

Wildlife value

butterflies, pollinators, mammals, songbirds, larval host

Caterpillar hosts

~235 butterfly & moth species

Landscape uses

specimen

Native states

AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV