Ontario Trees & Shrubs website

Bitternut Hickory
Carya cordiformis

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, Entire;  Compound, alternate.

Habitat: Forests;  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: 151 photographs available, of which 8 are featured on this page. SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOGRAPHS.

Range Map is at the bottom of the page

Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis)

Bitternut Hickory bud in winter.

Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis)

Another pic of a bud. Note the bright sulfur colour. This is very distinctive. No other tree has buds like this.

Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis)

Bitternut Hickory bud opening in the spring.

Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis)

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.

Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis)

Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis)

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)!

Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis)

The leaf of Bitternut Hickory is a compound leaf, as with all hickories.

Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis)

Another pic of its leaves.


Range map for Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis)

PLEASE NOTE: A coloured Province or State means this species occurs somewhere in that Province/State.
The entire Province/State is coloured, regardless of where in that Province/State it occurs.

(Range map provided courtesy of the USDA website and is displayed here in accordance with their Policies)