Hickory

{{Short description|Genus of trees}} {{Other uses}} {{Redirect|Carya|the archaic nut-tree goddess|Caryatis|the walnut tree nymph in Greek mythology|Hamadryad|the other mythical figure of that name|Carya (daughter of Dion)|the town of ancient Arcadia, Greece|Carya (Arcadia)}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Hickory | fossil_range = {{geological range|85.8|0}} Late Cretaceous - present<ref>{{cite web |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=54583 |title="Carya" |work=Fossilworks |access-date=2022-05-05 |archive-date=2023-08-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811211458/http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=54583 |url-status=live }}</ref> | image = Carya Morton 29-U-10.jpg | image_caption = Hickory at Morton Arboretum Accession 29-U-10 | display_parents = 3 | taxon = Carya | authority = Nutt. | type_species = ''Carya tomentosa'' | type_species_authority = (Poir.) Nutt.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legacy.tropicos.org/Name/40002070 |title=''Carya'' Nutt. |work=TROPICOS |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |access-date=2009-10-19}}</ref> }}

'''Hickory''' is a common name for trees composing the genus '''''Carya''''', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''.<ref name=powo/>

Seven species are native to Southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve are native to North America. A number of hickory species are used for their edible nuts or for their wood.

==Etymology== The name "hickory" derives from a Native American word in an Algonquian language (perhaps Powhatan). It is a shortening of ''pockerchicory'', ''pocohicora'', or a similar word, which may be the name for the hickory tree's nut, or may be a milky drink made from such nuts.<ref name=etym/> The genus name ''Carya'' is {{langx|grc|κάρυον}}, {{Lang|grc-Latn|káryon}}, meaning "nut".

==Description== Hickories are temperate to subtropical forest trees with pinnately compound leaves and large nuts. Most are deciduous, but one species (''C. sinensis'', syn. ''Annamocarya sinensis'') in southeast Asia is evergreen.<ref name="foc2" />

Hickory flowers are small, yellow-green catkins produced in spring. They are wind-pollinated and self-incompatible. The fruit is a globose or oval nut, {{convert|2|–|5|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|1.5|–|3|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} diameter, enclosed in a four-valved husk, which splits open at maturity. The nut shell is thick and bony in most species, but thin in a few, notably the pecan (''C. illinoinensis''); it is divided into two halves, which split apart when the seed germinates.

Some fruits are borderline and difficult to categorize. Hickory (''Carya'') nuts and walnut (''Juglans'') nuts, both in the family Juglandaceae, grow within an outer husk; these fruits are sometimes considered to be drupes or drupaceous nuts, rather than true botanical nuts. "Tryma" is a specialized term for such nut-like drupes.<ref>{{cite web |last=Armstrong |first=W.P. |title=Identification of Major Fruit Types |url=https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/fruitid1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219121930/https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/fruitid1.htm |archive-date=2018-02-19 |access-date=2022-09-19 |website=www2.palomar.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Armstrong |first=W.P. |date=15 March 2009 |title=Nut Photos |url=https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/ecoph8.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107151123/https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/ecoph8.htm |archive-date=7 November 2021 |access-date=19 September 2022 |website=www2.palomar.edu}}</ref> The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, however, considers the fruit to be a nut.<ref name="APG">{{cite web | title=Fagales | website= Missouri Botanical Garden | url=https://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/orders/fagalesweb.htm#Juglandoideae | ref={{sfnref| Missouri Botanical Garden }} | access-date=2024-11-10}}</ref>

==Taxonomy==

=== Phylogeny === The oldest fossils attributed to ''Carya'' are Cretaceous pollen grains from Mexico and New Mexico. Fossil and molecular data suggest the genus ''Carya'' may have diversified during the Miocene.<ref name="Zhang2013">{{cite journal |author1=Zhang, Jing-Bo |author2=Rui-Qi Li |author3=Xiao-Guo Xiang |author4=Steven R. Manchester |author5=Li Lin |author6=Wei Wang |author7=Jun Wen |author8=Zhi-Duan Chen |date=2013 |title=Integrated Fossil and Molecular Data Reveal the Biogeographic Diversification of the Eastern Asian-Eastern North American Disjunct Hickory Genus (Carya Nutt.) |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=8 |issue=7 |article-number=e70449 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...870449Z |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0070449 |pmc=3713062 |pmid=23875028 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Modern ''Carya'' first appeared in Oligocene strata 34 million years ago. Recent discoveries of ''Carya'' fruit fossils further support the hypothesis that the genus has long been a member of Eastern North American landscapes, however, its range has contracted, and Carya is no longer extant west of the Rocky Mountains.<ref name="Huang2014">{{cite journal |author1=Huang, Y.J. |author2=Yusheng Liu |author3=M.S. Zavada |date=2014 |title=New fossil fruits of Carya (Juglandaceae) from the latest Miocene to earliest Pliocene in Tennessee, eastern United States |journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=508–520 |doi=10.1111/jse.12085 |bibcode=2014JSyEv..52..508H |s2cid=83492234}}</ref><ref name="MissisippiMiocene">{{cite journal |author1=McNair, D.M. |author2=D.Z. Stults |author3=B. Axsmith |author4=M.H. Alford |author5=J.E. Starnes |date=2019 |title=Preliminary investigation of a diverse megafossil floral assemblage from the middle Miocene of southern Mississippi, USA |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/pdfs/906.pdf |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |volume=22 |issue=2 |page=906 |doi=10.26879/906 |bibcode=2019PalEl..22..906M |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Fossils of early hickory nuts show simpler, thinner shells than modern species, with the exception of pecans, suggesting that the trees gradually developed defenses to rodent seed predation.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} During this time, the genus had a distribution across the Northern Hemisphere, but the Pleistocene Ice Age, beginning 2 million years ago, obliterated it from Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Orain |first1=R. |last2=Lebreton |first2=V. |last3=Ermolli |first3=E. Russo |last4=Combourieu-Nebout |first4=N. |last5=Sémah |first5=A. -M. |date=2013-01-01 |title=Carya as marker for tree refuges in southern Italy (Boiano basin) at the Middle Pleistocene |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018212006207 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=369 |pages=295–302 |bibcode=2013PPP...369..295O |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.10.037 |issn=0031-0182|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In Anatolia, the genus appears to have disappeared only in the early Holocene, probably related to human disturbance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Biltekin |first1=Demet |last2=Popescu |first2=Speranta-Maria |last3=Suc |first3=Jean-Pierre |last4=Quézel |first4=Pierre |last5=Jiménez-Moreno |first5=Gonzalo |last6=Yavuz |first6=Nurdan |last7=Çağatay |first7=M. Namık |date=2015-04-01 |title=Anatolia: A long-time plant refuge area documented by pollen records over the last 23million years |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034666714001791 |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |language=en |volume=215 |pages=1–22 |bibcode=2015RPaPa.215....1B |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2014.12.004 |issn=0034-6667|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The distribution of ''Carya'' in North America also contracted, and it completely disappeared from the continent west of the Rocky Mountains. It is likely that the genus originated in North America, and later spread to Europe and Asia.<ref name="Zhang2013"/>

=== Subdivision === The genus ''Carya'' (not to be confused with ''Careya'' in the Lecythidaceae) is in the walnut family, Juglandaceae. In the APG system, this family is included in the order Fagales. Several species are known to hybridize, with around nine accepted, named hybrids.<ref name=powo/><ref name=usda/>

==== Asian hickories ==== '''''Carya'' sect. ''Sinocarya''''' [[File:Carya cathayensis nuts.jpg|thumb|Roasted ''Carya cathayensis'' (Chinese hickory)]] *''Carya dabieshanensis'' M.C. Liu – Dabie Shan hickory (may be synonymous with ''C. cathayensis'') *''Carya cathayensis'' Sarg. – Chinese hickory *''Carya hunanensis'' W.C.Cheng & R.H.Chang – Hunan hickory *''Carya kweichowensis'' Kuang & A.M.Lu – Guizhou hickory *''Carya luodianensis'' Yang, Y. B (2026)<ref>Yang, Y. B., Yang, C. Y., Yao, W. H., Li, H., & An, M. T. (2026). Correction to “Carya luodianensis (Juglandaceae), a new species from Guizhou Province, Southern China, revealed by morphological and plastid evidence”. Ecology and Evolution, 16(4), e73350. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73350</ref> *''Carya poilanei'' Leroy – Poilane's hickory *''Carya sinensis'' Dode – Beaked hickory *''Carya tonkinensis'' Lecomte – Vietnamese hickory<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legacy.tropicos.org/name/40002070?tab=subordinatetaxa |title=Subordinate Taxa of ''Carya'' Nutt. |work=TROPICOS |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |access-date=2009-10-19}}</ref>

''C. sinensis'' has sometimes been split out in a separate genus as ''Annamocarya sinensis'',<ref name="foc2"/> but not by ''Plants of the World Online'',<ref name=powo/> as genetic data support it being embedded within the other Asian ''Carya''.<ref name="Zhang2013"/>

==== North American hickories ==== '''''Carya'' sect. ''Carya''''' – typical hickories [[File:Black hickory in Bastrop County, Texas (cropped).jpg|thumb|Nuts of ''Carya texana'' (black hickory)]] *''Carya floridana'' Sarg. – scrub hickory *''Carya glabra'' (Mill.) Sweet – pignut hickory, pignut, sweet pignut, coast pignut hickory, smoothbark hickory, swamp hickory, broom hickory *''Carya laciniosa'' (Mill.) K.Koch – shellbark hickory, shagbark hickory, bigleaf shagbark hickory, kingnut, big shellbark, bottom shellbark, thick shellbark, western shellbark *''Carya myristiciformis'' (F.Michx.) Nutt. – nutmeg hickory, swamp hickory, bitter water hickory *''Carya ovalis'' (Wangenh.) Sarg. – red hickory, spicebark hickory, sweet pignut hickory (treated as a variety of ''C. glabra'' by ''Flora N. Amer.'' and ''Plants of the World Online''<ref name=powo/>) *''Carya ovata'' (Mill.) K.Koch – shagbark hickory **''C. o.'' var. ''ovata'' – northern shagbark hickory **''C. o.'' var. ''australis'' – southern shagbark hickory, Carolina hickory (syn. ''C. carolinae-septentrionalis'') *''Carya pallida'' (Ashe) Engl. & Graebn. – sand hickory *''Carya texana'' Buckley – black hickory *''Carya tomentosa'' (Poir.) Nutt. – mockernut hickory (syn. ''C. alba'') *†''Carya washingtonensis'' Manchester – Miocene of Kittitas County, Washington

{{anchor|Apocarya}} '''''Carya'' sect. ''Apocarya''''' – pecans [[File:Carya cordiformis.jpg|thumb|Foliage of ''Carya cordiformis'' (bitternut hickory)]] *''Carya aquatica'' (F.Michx.) Nutt. – bitter pecan or water hickory *''Carya cordiformis'' (Wangenh.) K.Koch – bitternut hickory *''Carya illinoinensis'' (Wangenh.) K.Koch – pecan *''Carya palmeri'' W.E. Manning – Mexican hickory

== Distribution and habitat == Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve are native to North America, of which eleven occur in the United States, four in Mexico (of which one, ''C. palmeri'', endemic there), and five extending into southern Canada.<ref name="powo" /><ref name="fna" /><ref name="foc" />

== Ecology == Hickory is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species. These include: * Luna moth (''Actias luna'') * Brown-tail moth (''Euproctis chrysorrhoea'') * ''Coleophora'' case-bearers, ''C. laticornella'' and ''C. ostryae'' * Regal moths (''Citheronia regalis''), whose caterpillars are known as hickory horn-devils * Walnut sphinx (''Amorpha juglandis'') * The bride (nominate subspecies ''Catocala neogama neogama'') * Hickory tussock moth (''Lophocampa caryae'')

The hickory leaf stem gall phylloxera (''Phylloxera caryaecaulis'') also uses the hickory tree as a food source. Phylloxeridae are related to aphids and have a similarly complex life cycle. Eggs hatch in early spring and the galls quickly form around the developing insects. ''Phylloxera'' galls may damage weakened or stressed hickories, but are generally harmless. Deformed leaves and twigs can rain down from the tree in the spring as squirrels break off infected tissue and eat the galls, possibly for the protein content or because the galls are fleshy and favored by squirrels. The pecan gall curculio (''Conotrachelus elegans'') is a true weevil species also found feeding on galls of the hickory leaf stem gall phylloxera.

The banded hickory borer (''Knulliana cincta'') is also found on hickories.{{Infobox nutritional value |name=Hickory nuts (''Carya'' spp.), dried |water=2.65 g |kJ=2749 |protein=12.72 g |fat=64.37 g |satfat=7.038 g |monofat=32.611 g |polyfat=21.886 g  |carbs=18.25 g |fiber=6.4 g |calcium_mg=61 |copper_mg=0.738 |iron_mg=2.12 |magnesium_mg=173 |phosphorus_mg=336 |potassium_mg=436 |sodium_mg=1 |manganese_mg=4.610 |zinc_mg=4.31 |selenium_ug=8.1 |vitC_mg=2.0 |thiamin_mg=0.867 |riboflavin_mg=0.131 |niacin_mg=0.907 |pantothenic_mg=1.746 |vitB6_mg=0.192 |folate_ug=40 |vitA_iu=131  |tryptophan=0.139 g |threonine=0.422 g |isoleucine=0.576 g |leucine=1.027 g |lysine=0.497 g |methionine=0.300 g |cystine=0.271 g |phenylalanine=0.713 g |tyrosine=0.454 g |valine=0.730 g |arginine=2.086 g |histidine=0.389 g |alanine=0.662 g |aspartic acid=1.368 g |glutamic acid=2.885 g |glycine=0.708 g |proline=0.571 g |serine=0.806 g  |source_usda=1 |note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170177/nutrients Link to USDA Database entry] }}

==Uses== ===Nutrition=== Dried hickory nuts are 3% water, 18% carbohydrates, 13% protein, and 64% fats. In a {{convert|100|g|oz|frac=2|abbr=off|adj=on}} reference amount, dried hickory nuts supply {{convert|2749|kJ|kcal|abbr=off}} of food energy, and are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of several B vitamins and dietary minerals, especially manganese at 220% DV.

=== Culinary === An extract from shagbark hickory bark is used in an edible syrup similar to maple syrup, with a slightly bitter, smoky taste. The Cherokee people would produce a green dye from hickory bark, which they used to dye cloth.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Knight |first1=Oliver |title=Chronicles of Oklahoma |page=164 |year=1956–57 |contribution=History of the Cherokees, 1830–1846 |place=Oklahoma City |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society |language=en |oclc=647927893}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-last=Foreman |author-first=Grant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gGtLnSkqkekC&pg=PA283 |title=The Five Civilized Tribes |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=1934 |isbn=978-0-8061-0923-7 |location=Norman |pages=283–284 |language=en}}</ref> When this bark was mixed with maple bark, it produced a yellow dye pigment. The ashes of burnt hickory wood were traditionally used to produce a strong lye (potash) fit for soapmaking.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=John |author-link=John Mitchell (geographer) |year=1748 |title=An Account of the Preparation and Uses of the Various Kinds of Pot-Ash |journal=Philosophical Transactions |language=en |volume=45 |page=543 |jstor=104578}}</ref>

The nuts of some species are palatable, while others are bitter and only suitable for animal feed. Hickory nuts were a significant food source for indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands of North America since the middle Archaic period. They were used by the Cherokee in Kanuchi soup, but more often edible oil would be extracted through crushing the nuts and then either straining or boiling the remains.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scarry |first=C. Margaret |title=People and Plants in Ancient Eastern North America |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-58834-108-2 |editor-last=Minnis |editor-first=Paul E. |location=Washington, D.C. |page=61 |chapter=Patterns of Wild Plant Utilization in the Prehistoric Eastern Woodlands}}</ref> Shagbark and shellbark hickory, along with pecan, are regarded by some as the finest nut trees. Pecans are the most important nut tree native to North America.<ref name="fna" />

When cultivated for their nuts, clonal (grafted) trees of the same cultivar cannot pollinate each other because of their self-incompatibility. Two or more cultivars must be planted together for successful pollination. Seedlings (grown from hickory nuts) will usually have sufficient genetic variation.

=== Wood === thumb|upright|left|Finished hickory in a cabinet Hickory wood is hard, stiff, dense and shock resistant. There are woods stronger than hickory and woods that are harder, but the combination of strength, toughness, hardness, and stiffness found in hickory wood is not found in any other commercial wood.<ref>Important Trees of Eastern Forests, USDA, 1974</ref> Hickory is therefore used in a number of items requiring these properties, such as tool handles, bows, wheel spokes, walking sticks, drumsticks and wood flooring. Baseball bats were formerly made of hickory, but are now more commonly made of ash; however, it is replacing ash as the wood of choice for Scottish shinty sticks. Traditional lacrosse sticks are made out of hickory, however since the 1970s lacrosse sticks have switched to plastic heads on metal shafts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ormsby |first=Mary |date=2017-03-11 |title=A lacrosse game with the 1867 touches |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/a-lacrosse-game-with-the-1867-touches/article_2adbba40-e282-5bab-9419-37621df8d098.html |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Toronto Star |language=en}}</ref> Hickory was also extensively used for the construction of early aircraft.

Due to its grain structure, hickory is more susceptible to moisture absorption than other species of wood, and is therefore more prone to shrinkage, warping or swelling with changes in humidity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shrinking, Warping and Perfect Boards |url=https://www.lignomatusa.com/shrinking-warping-and-perfect-boards/ |website=LignomatUSA |date=May 2013 |publisher=Lignomat}}</ref>

Hickory is also highly prized for wood-burning stoves and chimineas, as its density and high energy content make it an efficient fuel.<ref name=grauke/> Hickory wood is also a preferred type for smoking cured meats. In the Southern United States, hickory is popular for cooking barbecue, as hickory grows abundantly in the region and adds flavor to the meat.

==Gallery== <gallery class="center"> File:Carya nuts.jpg|Comparison of North American ''Carya'' nuts File:Hickory nuts 6060.JPG|Ripe hickory nuts ready to fall File:2014-11-02 14 36 58 Hickory foliage during autumn along Woosamonsa Road in Hopewell Township, New Jersey.jpg|Autumn foliage </gallery>

==See also== * {{annotated link|Hican}} * {{annotated link|Walnut}}

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=etym>Online Etymology Dictionary, [https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=hickory entry "hickory"].</ref> <ref name=foc>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=105766 Flora of China: ''Carya'']</ref> <ref name="foc2">{{cite web | title=Annamocarya sinensis in Flora of China @ efloras.org | website=eFloras.org Home | url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200006095 | access-date=2024-10-27}}</ref> <ref name=fna>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=105766 Flora of North America: ''Carya'']</ref> <ref name=grauke>{{cite web |last1=Grauke |first1=L. J. |title=Hickories- Economic Botany |url=https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/carya/species/ecobot.htm |website=aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu |access-date=4 August 2019 |archive-date=24 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024150739/https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/carya/species/ecobot.htm }}</ref> <ref name=powo>{{cite web |title=''Carya'' Nutt. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:331465-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanical Gardens Kew |access-date=4 August 2019}}</ref> <ref name=usda>[https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=CARYA USDA Plants Database Profile for ''Carya'' (hickory)]</ref> }} *Philips, Roger. ''Trees of North America and Europe''. Random House, Inc., New York. {{ISBN|0-394-50259-0}}, 1979.

==External links== {{Commons category|Carya}} * [https://arboretum.harvard.edu/plants/image-search/?keyword=Carya&submit=Search ''Carya'' images at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University Plant Image Database] * Damery, Jonathan. [https://arboretum.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Carya_Collection.pdf "The ''Carya'' Collection."] ''Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University website.'' Accessed 26 May 2020. {{EB1911 poster|Hickory}}

* Category:Edible nuts and seeds Category:Extant Oligocene first appearances Category:Native American cuisine of the Southeastern Woodlands Category:Plant dyes Category:Plants used in Native American cuisine Category:Wood