Other common names:
Swamp Hickory French names:
Caryer cordiforme Family: Walnut Family (Juglandaceae) Group: Hickories Distinctive features: Tree Similar species: •
Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) • Shellbark Hickory (Carya laciniosa) •
Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra) Leaves: Alternate; Compound/Divided; Entire; Compound, alternate Habitat:
Forests Books: Trees in Canada: 210 Native/Non-native:
Native Status:
Common
Notes:
Bitternut Hickory is probably one of the easiest hickories to identify as long as you can see the buds: they are a bright sulfur colour! Unfortunately, as the name implies, the nuts are not edible. Photographs:
104 photographs available, of which 8 are featured on this page. SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOGRAPHS.
Another pic of a bud. Note the bright sulfur colour. This is very distinctive. No other tree has buds like this.
Bitternut Hickory bud opening in the spring.
Bitternut Hickory bark is fairly distinctive. It is usually very shallowly ridged, with whitish lines in the grooves. It's actually usually quite smooth to the touch.
The nuts of Bitternut Hickory. It's unfortunate, given that this is a fairly easy tree to identify, that the nuts are inedible (as the name of the tree implies)!
The leaf of Bitternut Hickory is a compound leaf, as with all hickories.
