I cannot figure out this hickory

[WDH]

Good point.  That could very well be the case.

[BrandonTN]

Lets see some stems on the branches. 

[IL Bull]

Looks like a mocker nut.  Have tried eating them.  Shag bark and mocker nut are both sweet enough to eat.  The rest of the hickories are bitter.

[WDH]

I have too, IL Bull.  Mockernut and shagbark.  Tastes different than a walnut or a pecan.  Hard to get the meat out of the shells, though .

[LeeB]

Well, I was a gonna take some pictures today but the rain kinda dampened my enthusiasm a little. Maybe tommorow.

[woodbeard]

So, how would one distinguish bitternut hickory from mockernut based on the bark?

[WDH]

From my experience, the bitternut bark has diamond shaped ridges like mockernut.  However, mockernut ridges will generally be heavier looking, thicker, protrude more, and have a more robust look.  In many of the bitternut that I have seen, the diamond shaped ridges are there, but they are thin, looking like they have been laid with glue using cardboard.  It looks almost smooth, but you can see the ridges and the patterns they make, much more subtle than mockernut.

The buds are very different.  Bitternut buds are very graceful and sulfur yellow.  They are very distinctive, one of a kind.  A little fuzzy.  They are shaped more like a duckbill (valvate) with two sides that come together.  The mockernut bud is big and fat (big as the end of your little finger).  Bud scales are shiny, not fuzzy, overlap (imbricate), and are very brown.

[SwampDonkey]

All this diamond ridge talk, reminds me of butternut and white ash. 

[WDH]

Me too...........

[woodbeard]

Ah, so bitternut is the one I tend to confuse with ash at first glance.
The butternut around here is much different looking. It does have a diamondish configuration to the bark, but spread out much more than black walnut or ash, with many wide, flat areas.

[SwampDonkey]

I only brought it up because of the diamond patterns.

Do you saw much butternut woodbeard? or white ash? I like both and need to source some more local butternut for projects down the road (time-wise). On the farm we sold we had quite a few butternut, even growing out on the hardwood ridge and mostly along our streams. Not used to seeing it to far from the river. A couple weeks ago I saw some nice ones up by a cell phone tower, growing on an abandoned farm field. It was abandoned a long time because the softwood and poplar was 12-20 inch at breast height. In a good market trend, those are money trees, with the current markets....I'd rather the worms ate them. 

[Greg]

Any hickory with tight bark like that I've always just called "pignut".

Haven't heard of mockernut, in these parts anyways
Greg

[woodbeard]

Do you saw much butternut woodbeard?

Whenever I can. It's getting wiped out around here by something. Whenever logs of it turn up at the local log yard, they are usually kinda rough, and sell as #3 mixed hardwoods at $180/mbf, so I snatch up whatever I can.

[WDH]

Any hickory with tight bark like that I've always just called "pignut".

Haven't heard of mockernut, in these parts anyways
Greg

Google Carya tomemtosa

[SwampDonkey]

I always considered the forests of Ohio about the most genetically diverse area in terms of hardwood species in the eastern US. It's also on the edge for ranges of many species of the far north or the south.

[SPIKER]

here is a pic of pig nut showing the diamond paterns it is ~ 20" dbh

this tree's nuts are very thin skinned with a raised edge on the husk sections.   no pics of these nuts maybe tomarrow I'll take camera & get some shots of the nuts on the hickerys

mark m

[ARKANSAWYER]

  Looking at the nut it is a Mockernut Hickory and the bark confirms that.  In hickorys I have noted that thick husk nuts taste better (Shagbark, Shellbark and Mockernut) and thin husk like Pignut, Nutmeg and Black.
  LeeB you will mostly have mockernut in your area unless the bark looks like a white oak then it is a shagbark.

[LeeB]

Thanks Arky. You know, the invite to come by is still open, along with the offer to throw some steaks on the grill.