Shagbark Hickory Tree - Carya ovata

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Juglandaceae -- Walnut family
Live Shagbark Hickory trees photographed at Winfield, Illinois, and The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois.
Height: to 100 feet, trunk diameter to 3 feet.

The shagbark hickory grows well in both dry and wet soil conditions, but prefers well-drained soils such as those found here, on a bluff overlooking the West Branch of the DuPage River in Northern Illinois. This bluff is the site of a Late Woodland period aboriginal settlement responsible for the effigy burial mounds found nearby. Shagbarks are commonly found in association with oak trees. The wood is hard, strong, tough and elastic, and is used in handles for tools and in athletic equipment. The wood also makes excellent firewood, and often is used in smoking meat. Squirrels are extremely fond of the fruit of the hickory, and some humans also use the nuts in baked goods, cookies, cakes, salads and game dishes.

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References

1. Colin Tudge, The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live, and Why They Matter, Reprint (Three Rivers Press, 2007).
2. NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY, National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees--E: Eastern Region, Chanticleer Press Ed (Knopf, 1980).

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