Many people can easily recognizemaplesorconifersbut cannot tell you what a hickory looks like.
Hickory trees have dark gray or brown bark with deep patterned furrows that peel upward.
Hickory Seeds
The hickory seeds are the delicious nuts the tree is famous for.
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Considered a drupe, a seed with a thin skin, fleshy inner fruit, and a singular pit.
Color can also vary being coppery brown to green.
The species is immensely valuable in that it is used for its wood, nuts, and sap.
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The sap is often used as a deeper, more complex, flavored syrup.
Meaning it mocks those trying to gain its fruit.
It is small and bitter and only tastes appetizing when refined into flour.
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Compared to other hickory trees has a somewhat unkempt appearance.
It grows extremely slowly, and the wood is especially hard and grained.
It makes a wonderful shade tree in the hot southern climates.
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They provide food, wood, and, more recently, aesthetic value to our designed landscapes.
The tree nuts are a valuable food crop and give us four-season interest in larger landscapes.
Hickory trees are an asset to have depending on your landscape goal.
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Most hickory nuts are edible, with the most famous hickory nut being the pecan.
Yes, hickory wood is very valuable and can be used for a variety of things.
As a strong wood, hickory wood can be used for sports equipment and tool handles.
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Missouri Department of Conservation.
Native hickories of Georgia II: identification characters & species descriptions.
Lives in the leaves: the beautiful moths and butterflies that sleep in the fall.
Tom Nagy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
NC State Cooperative Extension.
A brief history of Juglandaceae.
Carya laciniosa.NC State Extension.
Creative Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Carya ovalisNC State Extension
Carya pallida.NC State Extension.
Florida Native Plant Society.
Jason Sharp/ Flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
William Friedman / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Te Chang / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0
