Carya cordiformis (Wangenh.) K. Koch

Bitternut Hickory; Swamp Hickory

Tree

Perennial

Vascular

Bitternut Hickory is a large native deciduous tree in the Walnut family (Juglandaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Bitternut Hickory occurs on river banks, in floodplain forest, along streams, on hillsides, and in glades. It is a large tree reaching 160 feet in height. The bark is thin and tight. On young shoots it is smooth and silvery gray. On older trees it is furrowed with narrow ridges. The terminal bud is elongate with scales that are valvate and yellow or tan in color. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, and pinnately compound with 7-9 leaflets. The terminal leaflet is the largest. Leaflets are ovate-lanceolate in outline, and serrate. The upper surface of the leaflet is dark green in color and glabrous, the lower surface is lighter green in color and pubescent along the veins. The leaves turn yellow before falling in the autumn. Bitternut Hickory is monoecious with male and female flowers produced in the same tree. Male flowers are produced in drooping, yellowish-green catkins in the early spring. Female flowers are produced in a terminal spike of 1-4 flowers. The fruit is a nut enclosed in a thin husk. The fruit is ovoid with 4 ridges that extend from the outer tip of the fruit to about the midpoint. The husk splits along these ridges to release the nut. The meat of the nut is very bitter, and few animals eat them. Bitternut Hickory leaves are a larval food source for the Banded Hairstreak Butterfly (Satyrium calanus).--A. Diamond

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Native FAC (NWPL)

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