Pignut Hickory

Latin (group) name: Carya

Latin (specific) name: Carya Glabra (Miller) Sweet - (Hicoria Glabra (Miller) Britton)

Average max height: 50' to 10'

Average diameter: 15" to 30"

Official state tree: none

Category: American Woods The Hardwoods - Broadleafs Hickory

Wood Research

The Tree

Pignut Hickory is a tree 50 to 100 feet tall, frequently gnarled, with a divided short trunk of 15 to 30 inches in diameter. The branches point upward with drooping ends. The dark yellowish-green foliage is dense and when crushed is fragrant. The bark, a dark grayish color, is comparatively thin, hard, firm, divided by small fissures, and sometimes broken into small plates or flattened interlocking ridges. The nuts have a four-ridged, smooth, thin, pear-shaped hard shell, and a small, sweet or slightly bitter kernel which is not easily removed. The husk is long, thin and smooth, and easily removed since it splits into quarters nearly to the base. The tree is subject to attack by beetles and wood boring insects.

Pignut Hickory foliage

Pignut Hickory tree bark

Common Names in Use

• Pignut Hickory
• Bitternut
• Black Hickory (Miss, Ind.)
• Broom Hickory
• Brown Hickory (Del., Miss., Tenn.)
• Hard-shell (W. Va.)
• Hickory (trade)
• Pignut (N.H., Vt., Mass., Conn., R.I., N.Y., N.J., Pa., Del., W.Va., N.C., S.C., Fla., Ala., Miss., La., Tex., Ark., Ky., Mo., Ill., Ind., Ohio, Ontario and hort.)
• Red Hickory (Del.)
• Switch-bud Hickory (Ala)
• White Hickory (N.H.)

Growth Range

The natural growth range of Pignut Hickory is from Maine to southern Ontario, and Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas. The hickories grow in mixture with other hardwoods in deep fertile soils.

The Wood

The wood of Pignut Hickory is very similar to that of other hickories, being close-grained, very hard, tough, strong and resilient. The heartwood is a light tan to creamy color and the wide sapwood is nearly white. It is the heaviest of all the hickories. It works hard with hand tools, but machines well and finishes very smoothly with a glossy sheen.

Carya Glabra (Mill) Britt. by Hough

Uses

Like other hickories it is a favorite handle wood for axes, hammers, hatchets and picks. It is used for furniture manufacture, sporting and athletic equipment, wheels, spokes, agricultural implements, dowels and skewers, baskets, dairy and poultry supplies, shuttles, spools, toys and wooden ware. It is also excellent for smoking meat.

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