[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
TT: Carya ovata -- The Shagbark Hickory
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Following up on Tom Kimmerer's recent comments on 'the great beauty
of hickories in the fall,' I am excerpting some notes from our tree
library. Shagbark is native to an enormous range spanning the eastern
half of the continental US. First we hear from the classic text
_Knowing Your Trees_ (1937-1967) Collingwood, Brush & Butcher ...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SHAGBARK HICKORY is a distinctly American tree. Only one
hickory species exists beyond our continent, and this is in
eastern China. During pre-glacial periods, however, hickories
covered Europe and the Mediterranean countries. Of all the
hickories, none is so important or widespread as shagbark.
Its irregular round-topped crown reaches heights of 120 to
140 feet, and the trunk, which frequently is divided, attains
diameters of twenty to thirty inches. It is a common feature
of bottomlands and pastures of all the eastern states from
southern Maine to southeastern Minnesota, south to Georgia
and eastern Texas. It occurs in western Florida ...
The compound leaves arranged alternately on the stem have five
or seven leaflets whose narrow base is attached directly to
the leaf stalk. The three outer leaflets are four to six
inches long while the lower ones are smaller. Narrow at the
base, wide at the top, the margin of each leaflet is toothed
and the shape described as obovate ...
... [the green semispherical fruit] is described as ovate and
is responsible for the name 'ovata' to distinguish this 'Carya'
from other hickories. The thick outer husk splits into four
sections when ripe and reveals a single, white, thin-shelled
nut whose kernal is edible ...
The long, flat plates of gray bark of mature trees, loose at
one or both ends, gives the name 'shagbark.' On young trunks,
the bark is smooth, firm and light gray.
... Trees of seedling origin grow slowly, but may reach ages
of 150 to 200 years. The hickories are attacked by various
insects, but suffer greatest harm from the hickory bark beetle.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
More ? This last is from Stanley Schuler's _The Winter Garden_ (1972) ...
Squirrels are not difficult to please and to keep more or
less under control if you have trees to provide food and give
protection against dogs and cats. Hickories and Pecans are
favorite food trees, and when these are pretty well stripped,
the White Oaks with their sweet acorns followed by the Red
Oaks with their bitter acorns attract the squirrel's attention.
Since there are more Oaks than Hickories, acorns are actually
the staple diet of the squirrels. Wildlife studies show that
a single squirrel gathers -- or would like to gather -- 7 lb.
of acorns a day. Other nuts which squirrels relish are black
walnuts, hazelnuts and chestnuts. I have also noted that they
like the seeds in the winged fruits of Norway Maples. This
is a happy circumstance because,unless eaten, the seeds germi-
nate and put up hundreds of little trees every spring -- usually
in places where you don't want them ...
==============================[TreeTown]===============================