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 ½ as wide, lanceolate

·         winter buds are elongated and bright mustard yellow

·         grows 50-75' tall and about ½ 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