Male flowers are catkins and showy, while the female flowers are green and inconspicuous. Fruits are light brown and scaly when ripe. The husk is thin and is difficult to split. The nut is brownish in color with a small, sweet kernel. This tree is found on lower slopes of southeastern Ohio rather than the ridges where the pignut hickory is found.
Red hickory is particularly common on southern and western exposures.
The wood is heavy, strong, and hard. It is reddish-brown in color which gives this plant its local name of red hickory. It is said to be somewhat inferior to the other hickories but is used for the same purposes. The shagbark hickory is well-known because of its sweet and delicious nuts. The shagbark hickory thrives on rich, damp soil and is common along streams and on moist hillsides throughout the state.