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| ## shellbark hickory {#shellbark-hickory .Title-Header}               |
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| *Carya laciniosa* (Michx. f.) G. Don                                  |
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| Plant Symbol = CALA21                                                 |
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####### *Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of North America Program*

**Alternate Names**![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.6944444444444446in"
height="1.7965277777777777in"}

Big shellbark, bottom shellbark, thick shellbark, western shellbark,
shagbark hickory, bigleaf shagbark hickory, kingnut

### Uses

The wood of shellbark hickory is hard, heavy, strong, and very flexible,
making it a favored wood for tool handles. The hardness and beauty of
the grain also make it desired for furniture, cabinets, and veneer. All
hickories, however, suffer from ring shake, a separation of wood along
the annual rings and a serious problem for thin veneers. It also is
prized as fuelwood and charcoal.

The nuts of shellbark hickory are sweet and edible and the largest of
all hickories. They are eaten by a wide range of wildlife species,
including ducks, quail, wild turkeys, squirrels, chipmunks, deer, foxes,
raccoons, and white-footed mice. The tree is rarely planted as a shade
tree; it is relatively slow growing and difficult to move because of its
taproot. Numerous cultivars have been selected for use in nut production
or as grafting stock.

### Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State

Department of Natural Resources for this plant's current status, such as
state noxious status and wetland indicator values.

### Description 

*General:* Hickory Family (Caryaceae). This species is a native tree
20-30(40) m tall, with an open, round to oblong crown; twigs thick,
orange-brown, rusty-hairy when young, becoming glabrous, with a large,
elongate terminal bud; bark initially smooth and light gray with shallow
interlacing ridges, later developing long, broad, loosely attached
plates attached at the middle and curving away from the trunk, resulting
in a coarsely shaggy appearance. The leaves are deciduous, alternate,
pinnately compound, (3)5-9 dm long, with a usually hairy rachis,
leaflets (5)7-9(11), obovate to oblong-lanceolate, 9-20 cm long, the
terminal usually much larger than the lateral, acuminate, coarsely
toothed, without tufts of hair on the teeth, shiny dark green above,
paler and soft-hairy beneath and scaly with abundant large peltate
scales and small round peltate scales. The male (staminate) flowers are
in slender, yellow-green, pendent spikes (catkins) to 20 cm long, female
(pistillate) flowers are short, in clusters of 2-5 at branch tips; male
and female flowers borne separately but on the same tree (the species
monoecious). Fruits are tan to brown, spherical to ellipsoid, not
compressed or slightly so, 4.5-6 long, 4-5 cm wide, the husks minutely
hirsute, 7-13 mm thick, divided all the way to the base into 4 sections;
nuts large, 4­angled, cream colored, thick-shelled (4 mm). The common
name is in reference to the mature bark that peels away like a shell,
albeit in strips. It is also called kingnut hickory, because it has the
largest nut of all hickories.

*Variation within the species:* No variants are recognized within the
species, but numerous cultivars of shellbark hickory have been named,
with most originating in Iowa or Pennsylvannia (Grauke 1988). Hybrids
with pecan form *C.* x *nussbaumeri* Sarg. -- a group of hybrids with
large nuts. One of them, \'Gerardi\', has been recommended as a
rootstock for pecan. Shellbark hickory also hybridizes with shagbark
hickory to produce *C.* x *dunbarii*.

Shellbark hickory is similar to shagbark (*Carya ovata*) in its bark
that peels away in plates. Trees of shellbark tend to be shorter and
with heavier branches than shagbark, and the bark plates of shellbark
hickory are straighter (with less curve). Shellbark generally has 7-9
leaflets (vs. 5) and the leaves do not have tufts of hair at the tip of
the teeth. The shellbark hickory prefers bottomlands and is not as
widely distributed as the shagbark. The flavor of shellbark kernels is
considered by many to be inferior to shagbark hickory.

*Distribution:* Shellbark hickory grows primarily in the Ohio and upper
Mississippi River valleys, but the total range is wider, from New
England west to southeastern Iowa, then south to northeastern Oklahoma,
Tennessee, and Kentucky, with isolated populations in southern Arkansas,
east Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and northern Georgia. For current
distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on
the PLANTS Web site.

### Adaptation 

Shellbark usually occurs on deep bottomland soils of rivers and creeks
but can less commonly occur on dry, sandy soils and open cedar glades in
northern portions of its range, at elevations of 20-300 meters. It is a
minor component of the bur oak forest and in the South, of the swamp
chestnut oak­cherrybark oak forest. It usually occurs in mixtures with
various other bottomland species.

Flowering: April-June, after the leaves have appeared; fruiting:
September-October but some fruits may persist on trees until December.

### Establishment

The minimum tree age for seed production in shellbark hickory is about
40 years, with most seed produced between 75-200 years. Some seeds are
borne every year but mast crops are produced about every second year or
more irregularly. Shellbark hickory seeds require 90-120 days of cold
stratification to break embryo dormancy prior to germination.

Germination and establishment occur from late April to early June. The
seedlings rapidly develop a long taproot, but shoot growth is initially
slow. Young plants are frequently overtopped by competition but they are
shade-tolerant. Shellbark hickory sprouts readily following fire or
cutting (or other mechanical injury). Oldest trees may reach 300 years
of age.

### Management

Trees are late coming into leaf (usually late May to June) and lose
their leaves early in the autumn (usually October). The mature leaves
cast a heavy shade. This light regime makes the trees well suited for a
mixed woodland planting with shrubs and other trees beneath.

Seeds are best sown in a cold frame, for natural stratification, as soon
as they are ripe. Stored seed should be kept moist; stratify 60-150 days
at 1° C. Sow 1-2 seeds in a deep pot and thin to the best seedling;
accommodate the tap root if necessary to transplant, but place into
permanent positions as soon as possible, preferably in the first summer.
Seed can also be sown *in situ*, giving protection from predators and
from cold (a plastic bottle with the top and bottom removed and a
top-fitted wire mesh).

Shellbark hickory sprouts readily following fire or cutting (or other
mechanical injury) and coppice management has been recommended. The
species can be propagated with good success by grafting and budding.
Hickories are generally self-fertile but larger crops of better quality
seeds are produced following cross-pollination. Other information on
cultivars and cultivation of shellbark hickory is found at the website
of the Northern Nut Growers Association (see References).

Numerous insects and fungi affect hickories but shellbark hickory has no
enemies that seriously threaten its development.

### Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

### References

Grauke, L.J. 1988. *A cultivar list for hickory*. 79th Annual Report of
the Northern Nut Growers Association.

Northern Nut Growers Association, Inc. 2000. Web Site.
\<http://www.icserv.com/nnga/shelhick.htm\>

Schlesinger, R.C. 1990. *Carya laciniosa* (Michx. f.) Loud. Shellbark
Hickory. Pp. 211-214, IN: R.M. Burns and B.H. Honkala (tech. coords.).
*Silvics of North America*. *Volume 2.* *Hardwoods*. USDA, Forest
Service Agric. Handbook 654, Washington, D.C.

Stone, D.E. 1993. *Carya*. Pp. 417-425, IN: *Flora of North America,
north of Mexico*. Vol. 3. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, New York.
\<http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/Flora/flora.pl?FLORA_ID=12395\>

Strang, J.G., G.R. Brown, R.T. Jones, L.A. Weston, R. Bessin, & J.R.
Hartman 1987. *Nut tree growing in Kentucky*. University of Kentucky
Agricultural Communications Services. Web site.
\<http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id77/id77.htm\> Accessed September
2000.

### Prepared By

*Guy Nesom*

BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

### Species Coordinator

*Lincoln Moore*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Edited: 17jan01 jsp;10feb03 ahv; 01jun06 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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