Bitternut Hickory

Bitternut Hickory

Carya cordiformis

Juglandaceae (Walnut Family)

▲ leaf

▲ ▼ leaf undersides

▲ twig and bud

▲ fruit

▲ bark (light gray, furrowed with flat ridges)

Location on or near campus: not known

Carya cordiformis: Bitternut Hickory

• leaves alternate, pinnately compound, deciduous with 5-9 leaflets, usually 7; leaflets 3-6" long and 1/2 as wide, lanceolate
• winter buds are elongated and bright mustard yellow
• grows 50-75' tall and about 1/2 as wide
• fastest growing of native hickories
• has flattened, rounded nut with thin 4-parted husk; nut is bitter to taste
• prefers well-drained, fertile soils
• native to Missouri