Hickory

For other uses, see Hickory (disambiguation).

"Carya" redirects here. For the archaic nut-tree goddess, see Caryatis. For the walnut tree nymph in Greek mythology, see Hamadryad. For the other mythical figure of that name, see Carya (daughter of Dion). For the town of ancient Arcadia, Greece, see Carya (Arcadia).

Hickory Temporal range: Late Cretaceous - present
Hickory at Morton Arboretum Accession 29-U-10
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Juglandaceae
Subfamily:	Juglandoideae
Tribe:	Juglandeae
Subtribe:	Caryinae
Genus:	Carya Nutt.
Type species
Carya tomentosa (Poir.) Nutt.

Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus Carya, which includes 19 species accepted by Plants of the World Online. Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve are native to North America, of which eleven occur in the United States, four in Mexico (of which one, C. palmeri, endemic there), and five extending into southern Canada. A number of hickory species are used for their edible nuts, lumber or other wood and woodcraft products .

Hickories are temperate to subtropical forest trees with pinnately compound leaves and large nuts. Most are deciduous, but one species (C. sinensis, syn. Annamocarya sinensis) in southeast Asia is evergreen. Hickory flowers are small, yellow-green catkins produced in spring. They are wind-pollinated and self-incompatible. The fruit is a globose or oval nut, 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) long and 1.5–3 cm (0.6–1.2 in) diameter, enclosed in a four-valved husk, which splits open at maturity. The nut shell is thick and bony in most species, and thin in a few, notably the pecan (C. illinoinensis); it is divided into two halves, which split apart when the seed germinates.

Etymology

The name "hickory" derives from a Native American word in an Algonquian language (perhaps Powhatan). It is a shortening of pockerchicory, pocohicora, or a similar word, which may be the name for the hickory tree's nut, or may be a milky drink made from such nuts. The genus name Carya is Ancient Greek: κάρυον, káryon, meaning "nut".

Species and classification

The genus Carya (not to be confused with Careya in the Lecythidaceae) is in the walnut family, Juglandaceae. In the APG system, this family is included in the order Fagales. Several species are known to hybridize, with around nine accepted, named hybrids.

Asian hickories

Carya sect. Sinocarya

Roasted Carya cathayensis (Chinese hickory)

• Carya dabieshanensis M.C. Liu – Dabie Shan hickory (may be synonymous with C. cathayensis)
• Carya cathayensis Sarg. – Chinese hickory
• Carya hunanensis W.C.Cheng & R.H.Chang – Hunan hickory
• Carya kweichowensis Kuang & A.M.Lu – Guizhou hickory
• Carya poilanei Leroy – Poilane's hickory
• Carya sinensis Dode – Beaked hickory (sometimes split out in a separate genus as Annamocarya sinensis, but not by Plants of the World Online)
• Carya tonkinensis Lecomte – Vietnamese hickory

North American hickories

Carya sect. Carya – typical hickories

Nuts of Carya texana (black hickory)

• Carya floridana Sarg. – scrub hickory
• Carya glabra (Mill.) Sweet – pignut hickory, pignut, sweet pignut, coast pignut hickory, smoothbark hickory, swamp hickory, broom hickory
• Carya laciniosa (Mill.) K.Koch – shellbark hickory, shagbark hickory, bigleaf shagbark hickory, kingnut, big shellbark, bottom shellbark, thick shellbark, western shellbark
• Carya myristiciformis (F.Michx.) Nutt. – nutmeg hickory, swamp hickory, bitter water hickory
• Carya ovalis (Wangenh.) Sarg. – red hickory, spicebark hickory, sweet pignut hickory (treated as a variety of C. glabra by Flora N. Amer. and Plants of the World Online)
• Carya ovata (Mill.) K.Koch – shagbark hickory
  • C. o. var. ovata – northern shagbark hickory
  • C. o. var. australis – southern shagbark hickory, Carolina hickory (syn. C. carolinae-septentrionalis)
• Carya pallida (Ashe) Engl. & Graebn. – sand hickory
• Carya texana Buckley – black hickory
• Carya tomentosa (Poir.) Nutt. – mockernut hickory (syn. C. alba)
• †Carya washingtonensis Manchester – Miocene of Kittitas County, Washington

Carya sect. Apocarya – pecans

Foliage of Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)

• Carya aquatica (F.Michx.) Nutt. – bitter pecan or water hickory
• Carya cordiformis (Wangenh.) K.Koch – bitternut hickory
• Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K.Koch – pecan
• Carya palmeri W.E. Manning – Mexican hickory

Ecology

Hickory is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species. These include:

• Luna moth (Actias luna)
• Brown-tail moth (Euproctis chrysorrhoea)
• Coleophora case-bearers, C. laticornella and C. ostryae
• Regal moths (Citheronia regalis), whose caterpillars are known as hickory horn-devils
• Walnut sphinx (Amorpha juglandis)
• The bride (nominate subspecies Catocala neogama neogama)
• Hickory tussock moth (Lophocampa caryae)

The hickory leaf stem gall phylloxera (Phylloxera caryaecaulis) also uses the hickory tree as a food source. Phylloxeridae are related to aphids and have a similarly complex life cycle. Eggs hatch in early spring and the galls quickly form around the developing insects. Phylloxera galls may damage weakened or stressed hickories, but are generally harmless. Deformed leaves and twigs can rain down from the tree in the spring as squirrels break off infected tissue and eat the galls, possibly for the protein content or because the galls are fleshy and tasty to the squirrels. The pecan gall curculio (Conotrachelus elegans) is a true weevil species also found feeding on galls of the hickory leaf stem gall phylloxera.

The banded hickory borer (Knulliana cincta) is also found on hickories.

Evolutionary history

The oldest fossils attributed to Carya are Cretaceous pollen grains from Mexico and New Mexico. Fossil and molecular data suggest the genus Carya may have diversified during the Miocene. Modern Carya first appear in Oligocene strata 34 million years ago. Recent discoveries of Carya fruit fossils further support the hypothesis that the genus has long been a member of Eastern North American landscapes, however its range has contracted and Carya is no longer extant west of the Rocky Mountains.

Fossils of early hickory nuts show simpler, thinner shells than modern species with the exception of pecans, suggesting that the trees gradually developed defenses to rodent seed predation. During this time, the genus had a distribution across the Northern Hemisphere, but the Pleistocene Ice Age beginning 2 million years ago obliterated it from Europe. In Anatolia, the genus appears to have disappeared only in the early Holocene, probably related to human disturbance. The distribution of Carya in North America also contracted and it completely disappeared from the continent west of the Rocky Mountains. Since fossil records show North America as having the largest number of Juglandaceae species, it is likely that the genus originated there and later spread to Europe and Asia.

Fruit

Hickory nuts (Carya spp.), dried

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	2,749 kJ (657 kcal)
Carbohydrates	18.25 g
Dietary fiber	6.4 g
Fat	64.37 g
Saturated	7.038 g
Monounsaturated	32.611 g
Polyunsaturated	21.886 g
Protein	12.72 g
Tryptophan	0.139 g
Threonine	0.422 g
Isoleucine	0.576 g
Leucine	1.027 g
Lysine	0.497 g
Methionine	0.300 g
Cystine	0.271 g
Phenylalanine	0.713 g
Tyrosine	0.454 g
Valine	0.730 g
Arginine	2.086 g
Histidine	0.389 g
Alanine	0.662 g
Aspartic acid	1.368 g
Glutamic acid	2.885 g
Glycine	0.708 g
Proline	0.571 g
Serine	0.806 g
Vitamins and minerals Vitamins Quantity %DV† Vitamin A 131 IU Thiamine (B1) 72% 0.867 mg Riboflavin (B2) 10% 0.131 mg Niacin (B3) 6% 0.907 mg Pantothenic acid (B5) 35% 1.746 mg Vitamin B6 11% 0.192 mg Folate (B9) 10% 40 μg Vitamin C 2% 2.0 mg Minerals Quantity %DV† Calcium 5% 61 mg Copper 82% 0.738 mg Iron 12% 2.12 mg Magnesium 41% 173 mg Manganese 200% 4.610 mg Phosphorus 27% 336 mg Potassium 15% 436 mg Selenium 15% 8.1 μg Sodium 0% 1 mg Zinc 39% 4.31 mg
Other constituents	Quantity
Water	2.65 g
Link to USDA Database entry
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults, except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.

Some fruits are borderline and difficult to categorize. Hickory nuts (Carya) and walnuts (Juglans) in the Juglandaceae family grow within an outer husk; these fruits are sometimes considered to be drupes or drupaceous nuts, rather than true botanical nuts. "Tryma" is a specialized term for such nut-like drupes.

Nutrition

Dried hickory nuts are 3% water, 18% carbohydrates, 13% protein, and 64% fats (table). In a 100 gram (3.5 oz) reference amount, dried hickory nuts supply 657 calories, and are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of several B vitamins and dietary minerals, especially manganese at 220% DV (table).

Uses

Finished hickory in a cabinet

Hickory wood is hard, stiff, dense and shock resistant. There are woods stronger than hickory and woods that are harder, but the combination of strength, toughness, hardness, and stiffness found in hickory wood is not found in any other commercial wood. Hickory is therefore used in a number of items requiring these properties, such as tool handles, bows, wheel spokes, walking sticks, and wood flooring. Baseball bats were formerly made of hickory, but are now more commonly made of ash; however, it is replacing ash as the wood of choice for Scottish shinty sticks. Hickory was also extensively used for the construction of early aircraft.

Due to its grain structure, hickory is more susceptible to moisture absorption than other species of wood, and is therefore more prone to shrinkage, warping or swelling with changes in humidity.

Hickory is also highly prized for wood-burning stoves and chimineas, as its density and high energy content make it an efficient fuel. Hickory wood is also a preferred type for smoking cured meats. In the Southern United States, hickory is popular for cooking barbecue, as hickory grows abundantly in the region and adds flavor to the meat.

An extract from shagbark hickory bark is also used in an edible syrup similar to maple syrup, with a slightly bitter, smoky taste. The Cherokee people would produce a green dye from hickory bark, which they used to dye cloth. When this bark was mixed with maple bark, it produced a yellow dye pigment. The ashes of burnt hickory wood were traditionally used to produce a strong lye (potash) fit for soapmaking.

The nuts of some species are palatable and were used by Cherokee Indians in making Kanuchi soup, while others are bitter and only suitable for animal feed. Shagbark and shellbark hickory, along with pecan, are regarded by some as the finest nut trees. Pecans are the most important nut tree native to North America.

When cultivated for their nuts, clonal (grafted) trees of the same cultivar cannot pollinate each other because of their self-incompatibility. Two or more cultivars must be planted together for successful pollination. Seedlings (grown from hickory nuts) will usually have sufficient genetic variation.

Gallery

• 
  Comparison of North American Carya nuts
• 
  Ripe hickory nuts ready to fall
• 
  Autumn foliage

See also

• Hican
• Walnut

References

• Philips, Roger. Trees of North America and Europe. Random House, Inc., New York. ISBN 0-394-50259-0, 1979.

External links

• Carya images at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University Plant Image Database
• Damery, Jonathan. "The Carya Collection." Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University website. Accessed 26 May 2020.