shellbark hickory

Photo: KGools — CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Survives zone 5 through 8

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Shellbark hickory produces the largest nut of any hickory — up to 5 cm long — with a genuinely sweet, well-regarded kernel, ranking alongside shagbark as one of the two best-eating hickories. The trade-off is a very hard, thick shell that cracks poorly, so getting the kernel out intact takes more effort than with shagbark.

Hardiness

Zone 5–8

Habit

Tree

Edible part

Nut

Ripens

Sept–Oct

Mature size

Large tree 20–30 m — not containerable

Light

Full sun

Soil pH

6.0–7.5 (near-neutral; lime-tolerant)

Environment

Floodplain

Native range

Eastern and midwestern North America — from New York and Pennsylvania west to Iowa and Kansas, south to Tennessee and Oklahoma, typically confined to the deep, rich soils of floodplains and bottomlands and tolerant of brief early-spring flooding.

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

6–10 yrs

Growth speed

Slow-growing, reaching around 30 m tall at maturity, described as a very ornamental but slow tree.

Spacing

1500 cm (591 in) apart — about 225 m² (2422 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Pinnately compound, large, with 7 (ranging 5–9) obovate, finely toothed leaflets, the terminal leaflet much larger than the lower pairs; twigs are stout, orange-tan and hairy, a useful field mark distinguishing it from shagbark hickory.

Root system

A pronounced taproot running straight down like a carrot, even more emphasized than in some other hickories, making it especially important to plant seedlings in their permanent location early.

Fruit description

The largest nut in the genus, egg-shaped and up to 5 cm long, encased in a thick husk (about 6 mm) that splits into four sections at maturity; the shell itself is thick, hard and bony with four to six ribs, but the kernel inside is sweet and well-flavored.

Propagation

Grown from seed, which requires a period of cold stratification and is best sown in a cold frame as soon as ripe, or stratified and sown in spring. The taproot is pronounced even for a hickory, so nurseries sow only one or two seeds per deep pot and move seedlings to their permanent position as soon as they can be handled, ideally in their first summer.

Pollination

DICHOGAMOUS — needs Type I + Type II cultivars (pecan); hickories benefit from a 2nd tree

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.