Hickory

Mockernut Hickory  (White Hickory, Mockernut)  Carya tomentosa

Mature Size: 50 to 80 feet in height occasionally reaching 100 feet in height, 1 to 2 feet in diameter.  Mockernut hickories may live 500 years.

Form: Straight trunk and rounded crown.

Where to Find Them: Moist uplands, less frequently on flood plains, often with oaks.

Leaves: Alternate, pinnately-compound, 8 to 20 inches long with 7 to 9 (rarely 5) thin, sharp-pointed, saw-toothed leaflets that are shiney dark green above and pale green hairy below; very aromatic when crushed.

Fruit: 1.5-2″ Eliptical or pear shaped, with a  thick brown hust splitting to middle or most way to base when ripe.

Wildlife Uses: The nuts are a preferred food for wildlife, particularly squirrels, black bears, foxes, rabbits, beavers, white-footed mice and white-tailed deer.

Bark:   Gray, irregularly furrowed into narrow forking ridges.