Our mystery nuts last week were not from the shagbark hickory, but from the the pignut hickory, Carya glabra.

pignut-hickory-canopy

Pignut hickories are large trees, commonly part of the mixed hardwood deciduous forest in the eastern United States.

pignut-hickory-trunk

Pignut hickories are native trees.

pignut-hickory-leaf

Like their relatives, the leaves are compound.

pignut-hickory-fruitJPG

The nuts within the reverse-pear-shaped fruit are said to be bitter. Some wildlife will eat them, but we noticed it was a lot harder to find shagbark hickory nuts on the ground in the same area. I have a feeling, the shagbark nuts were being consumed first.

Do pignut hickories grow where you live?