JUGLANDACEAE - - Walnut Family

Carya glabra (P.Miller)Sweet — Pignut Hickory

Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra) - Pignut is also a large hickory tree. The leaves usually have 5 leaflets, but rarely some leaves with 7 on the same tree. The twigs and leaves are smooth (not hairy) hence the name "glabra." Twigs are slender, end buds widest at the middle. Bark furrowed and slightly scaly. The fruit is pear-shaped, sometimes with a stipe at the base, but the most important id feature is the husk. The husk in this species remains on the nut and usually splits about half way down on only two sides. Early settlers named the species "pignut" because their hogs loved to eat the nuts.

Habitat:

It generally grows in dry woods, primarily on hillsides and along dry ridges, but best growth occurs in deep, moist, well-drained soils. The C. glabra-C. ovalis complex has been variously treated as consisting of between 1 and 10 (or more) taxa by previous authors. Here we recognize two species (C. glabra and C. ovalis) and no varieties, but further study of variation in this group is needed.

Partial Habitat information from:
Weakley, Alan S., Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, Working Draft of 21 May 2015.

The native range of Carya glabra (Pignut Hickory)

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)].

The Georgia range of Carya glabra (Pignut Hickory)

Zomlefer, W.B., J.R. Carter, & D.E. Giannasi. 2014 (and ongoing). The Atlas of Georgia Plants. University of Georgia Herbarium (Athens, Georgia) and Valdosta State University Herbarium (Valdosta, Georgia). Available at: http://www.georgiaherbaria.org/.