Carya glabra
Foliage of piglets nut ( Carya glabra)
The piglets nut ( Carya glabra) is a large deciduous tree of the genus Hickory. The range extends from eastern Canada through the eastern United States to Florida.
Description
The piglets nut is a 20 to 30 meter high tree with gray, fine cracking, nonseparated bark. Young twigs are reddish brown, thin, glabrous or glabrous rapidly. The terminal buds are ovoid, 5-15 mm long, reddish to yellowish brown. The lateral, axillary buds are protected by bracts. The leaves are 20 to 60 inches long and have a 3 to 14 cm long stem. The leaf blade is from five to seven, rarely composed of only three or up to nine leaflets. The leaflets are 4-21 cm long and 2-10 centimeters wide. They are ovate, obovate or elliptic, pointed, and serrated. The lateral leaflets have short stems to 2 millimeters long, the terminal leaflet is on a 2 to 18 millimeters long stem. The upper leaf surface is shiny yellowish green and glabrous, the lower surface is initially slightly hairy on the main veins. The autumn colors of the leaves is bright yellow, orange later.
The male catkins are up to 13 centimeters long. As fruit globular to pear- shaped, about 2.5 centimeters big nuts are formed, which are surrounded by a 2 to 5 millimeters thick pericarp. The yellowish to reddish brown pericarp jumps up at maturity partially or to the base. The nuts are yellowish brown and thick-. The seeds taste sweet or bitter.
Distribution and location
The natural range is located in Eastern North America, extending from Ontario in eastern Canada over the northeastern United States into the southeastern United States to Florida and Texas. It is the most common Hickory kind in the southern Appalachian Mountains and the Cumberland Mountains, best thrives in the lower Ohio basin. The piglets nut grows in biodiversity-rich forests at altitudes up to 1460 meters on moderately dry to moderately moist, slightly acidic to alkaline rich soils in sunny locations. The species is frost hardy.
System
The piglets nut ( Carya glabra ) is a species of the genus hickory ( Carya ) in the family of the walnut family ( Juglandaceae ). It is assigned to the section Carya. The first description was in 1726 by Philip Miller as Juglans glabra ( basionym ). The species was in 1826 by Karl Heinrich Koch assigned to the genus Carya.
Carya glabra forms demareei the hybrid Carya Carya × with cordiformis.
There are two varieties:
- Carya glabra var megacarpa (synonym Carya megacarpa ), with smooth bark and large pear-shaped fruit that is mainly found along the Gulf Coast.
- Carya glabra var odorata ( Carya ovalis synonym ), whose pericarp jumps with peeling bark, reddish petioles and small, compressed elliptical fruit to the base. The variety usually occurs in upland areas.
Use
The piglets nut Carya ovata is next to the forestry important American hickory type. It is also used because of the beautiful autumn colors as ornamental tree.