Carya laciniosa
Shellbark Hickory
Mature Size, Growth, Longevity
Gets 60-80' tall and 35-55' wide, with a narrow-oblong habit. National champion is about 140' tall and 80' wide, in Greenup, KY. Lower branches droop, while upper branches ascend. A relatively slow grower. Medium to long longevity, often living over 200 years.
Native Range
Kentucky Native — Grows native in wet bottomlands in the moist, deep, fertile soils of floodplains and bottomlands from New York to Iowa, south to Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma, including Kentucky. Introduced into cultivation in 1800.
Flower and Fruit Details
April-May flowers are monoecious and greenish-yellow. Male flowers are 4-8" pendulous catkins. Female flowers are in short spikes. 2" oval fruits (nuts) with a 1/4", green to brown husk, lacking wings, and the nut inside is 4-6 ribbed, unlike Shagbark Hickory, which only has 4 ribs on the nut. The seed (nut) is sweet and edible. Cross-pollination is needed for best nut production.
Leaf and Bark Features
Deciduous: Leaves are pinnately compound, 10-24" long, alternate, with 5-9 (usually 7) leaflets, each finely serrated, dark yellow green on top, lighter and pubescent beneath. Leaves may brown and persist into winter. Leaflets do not have hairs at tips of teeth, unlike Shagbark Hickory. Yellow to golden brown fall color. Young tree bark is gray and smooth. Older bark is shaggy, very much like that of the Shagbark Hickory, exfoliating in long, vertical strips, but not to the degree of the Shagbark Hickory.
Culture and Care
Prefers moist to wet, rich, organic soil. Tolerates short periods of flooding. Needs full sun to part shade. Deep taproot makes wild trees difficult to transplant. Zones 5-8. Tolerates juglone in soil from nearby black walnuts. No serious insect or disease problems, but could have bark beetles, pecan weevils, and twig girdlers.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Other Facts
Good wildlife value. 3-season interest: Spring, Summer & Fall. Produces the largest nuts of all the hickories, thus the one common name, "King Nut". "Laciniosa" means "shredded", in reference to the shaggy bark. Not commonly sold by nurseries.
Suggested Uses
Makes a good shade tree for large estates. Also produces edible nuts. However, can be messy as a result.