Carya laciniosa

Carya laciniosa, the shellbark hickory, in the Juglandaceae or walnut family is also called kingnut, big, bottom, thick, or western shellbark, attesting to some of its characteristics. It is a slow-growing, long-lived tree, hard to transplant because of its long taproot, and subject to insect damage. The nuts, largest of all hickory nuts, are sweet and edible. Wildlife and people harvest most of them; those remaining produce seedling trees readily. The wood is hard, heavy, strong, and very flexible, making it a favored wood for tool handles. A specimen tree has been reported in Missouri with 117 cm (46 in) diameter at breast height, 36.9 m (121 ft 1 in) tall, and a spread of 22.6 m (74 ft 2 in).

Description

A medium sized tree. It grows to 30 m high. The trunk can be 90 cm across. The trunk does not have branches for more than half its length. The trunk often tapers from the base up. The crown is often open with branches spreading out towards the top. The bark peels in 1 m long curving plates. The leaves have 7 or sometimes 9 leaflets. The leaves are 25-30 cm long. The leaflets are widest near the middle. The upper surface is dark yellowish-green. They are paler and hairy underneath. The central leaf stalk often remains after the leaflets have fallen. The male and female flowers are separate. The male or pollen flowers are in dense clusters of catkins. They occur at the base of new shoots. The female or seed flowers are in small clusters at the tips of new shoots. The fruit are almost round and 5-7 cm long. The husks are 6-12 mm thick and woody. They split along 4 lines to the base when ripe. The nuts have thicker shells with poorer cracking quality than Shagbark hickory. The kernels are sweet and edible.

Edible Uses

The seed can be eaten raw or cooked in pies, cakes, and similar preparations. It is sweet with a very fine flavour and is considered probably the finest-tasting of all the hickories. It produces the largest seeds in the genus, up to 5cm long, though the shell is hard and thick and cracking quality is poor compared to Carya ovata. Seeds ripen in late autumn and keep for at least 6 months when stored in the shell in a cool place. The sap has a sweet flavour and can be tapped in spring, then boiled down into a syrup or sugar for use in the same ways as maple syrup.

Traditional Uses

The seeds are eaten. They can be eaten raw or used in cakes and pies. They are also roasted. The sap is sweet and can be boiled down to syrup.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

The inner bark is astringent and detergent. It has been used as a dressing for cuts and has been chewed to treat sore mouths.

Distribution

They grow in rich, moist to wet soils in valleys and along stream banks. It suits hardiness zones 4-9.

Where It Grows

Asia, Australia, Britain, Canada, Europe, India, North America, Northeastern India, USA,

Propagation

Seed requires cold stratification before it will germinate. Sow in a cold frame as soon as seed is ripe; stored seed should be kept moist (but not wet) and sown in a cold frame as soon as possible. Where possible, sow 1 or 2 seeds per deep pot and thin to the strongest seedling. Transplant seedlings as soon as they are large enough to handle, using deep pots to accommodate the taproot, and move plants to their permanent positions as soon as possible — ideally in their first summer — with cold protection for at least the first winter. Seed can also be sown in situ with protection from mice and cold; a bottomless plastic bottle capped with wire mesh works well for both purposes.

Other Uses

The wood is close-grained, tough, hard, heavy, elastic, and very flexible, weighing 50 lb per cubic foot. It is an excellent wood used for tool handles, baskets, and fuel. The tree acts as a dynamic accumulator, gathering minerals and nutrients from the soil and storing them in a more bioavailable form suitable for use as fertilizer or mulch improvement.

Production

Trees can live for 200 years.

Notes

There are about 14-25 Carya species.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Hnum-rueh

References (24)

• Beckstrom-Sternberg, Stephen M., and James A. Duke. "The Foodplant Database." http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300/cgi-bin/browse/foodplantdb.(ACEDB version 4.0 - data version July 1994) (As Hicoria laciniosa)
• Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 87
• Brouk, B., 1975, Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press, London. p 221
• Cundall, P., (ed.), 2004, Gardening Australia: flora: the gardener's bible. ABC Books. p 335
• Duke, J.A., 1992, Handbook of Edible Weeds. CRC Press. p 62

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