Index / Search / Carya ovata

§1 Plant

Carya ovata (Mill.) K. Koch

vernacular shagbark hickory — species · Juglandaceae


USDA
CAOV2
GBIF
3054296
Rank
species
shagbark hickory (Carya ovata)
Platephotograph · klallaCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Juglandaceae DC. ex Perleb
Genus
Carya
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 877 counties across 27 states/territories
Legend Native · 877 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-40 °F minimum
Frost-free days
140 min.
Precipitation
29–80 in/yr
pH range
4–7.3
Root depth
48 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
75 ft
Height @ 20 y
15 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
96
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
Yes
Lumber
Yes
Fuelwood
High
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 877 counties across 27 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 38 N
Arkansas view state ↗ 71 N
Delaware view state ↗ 2 N
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N
Georgia view state ↗ 17 N
Illinois view state ↗ 102 N
Indiana view state ↗ 71 N
Iowa view state ↗ 13 N
Kansas view state ↗ 33 N
Kentucky view state ↗ 100 N
Louisiana view state ↗ 33 N
Maine view state ↗ 9 N
Massachusetts view state ↗ 12 N
Michigan view state ↗ 33 N
Minnesota view state ↗ 7 N
Mississippi view state ↗ 18 N
New Hampshire view state ↗ 8 N
New Jersey view state ↗ 18 N
New York view state ↗ 46 N
North Carolina view state ↗ 24 N
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 66 N
Rhode Island view state ↗ 1 N
South Carolina view state ↗ 4 N
Tennessee view state ↗ 50 N
Vermont view state ↗ 8 N
Virginia view state ↗ 54 N
West Virginia view state ↗ 38 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CAOV2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3054296 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T07:25:30Z