Identifying Characteristics
| Size/Form: | Pignut hickory is a large tree that reaches heights of 80 to 135 feet, 1 to 2 feet in diameter. It has a long, clear bole that spreads into a narrow, oblong crown. |
| Leaves: | The leaves are pinnately compound, alternately arranged, and deciduous. Each leaf has 5, rarely 7, lance-shaped leaflets that are 4 to 6 inches long by 2 to 3 inches wide. The sessile leaflets usually have glabrous, dark yellowish-green upper surfaces while the underneath surface is paler and glabrous, occasionally pubescent along the midrib. The leaf base is rounded and the leaf apex tapers to a long point. The terminal leaf is the largest leaflet. The margins of all the leaflets are serrated. The rachis is slender, smooth, and glabrous. |
| Twigs: | The twigs are stout, reddish-brown, and glabrous. The pith is homogeneous. |
| Bark: | The gray bark is deeply furrowed between narrow, interlacing ridges, which are often scaly at the surface. |
| Flowers: | The pignut hickory is a monoecious species. The male flowers are dropping catkins yellow-green in color, with 3 hanging from 2 to 3-inch-long stalks. The very short female flowers grow in clusters at the end of the brances. |
| Fruit: | The fruit is a pear-shaped nut that is 1 ¼ inches long. It is thick-walled, unridged, and encased in a thin husk that only splits half way open. The inside of fallen nuts, when split open, resembles the snout of a pig. The seed is small and usually sweet. |
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Similar Trees on the Florida 4-H Forest Ecology Contest List:
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