Tree of the Week: Black Hickory (Carya texana)

Our tree of the week is a 25-year-old black hickory (Carya texana). Last year at this time, this same tree was featured as our tree of the week. You can find that post here. This year, we have a few more photographs, snapped under a sunny sky, allowing us to appreciate the striking fall coloration of this species.

 

Our tree of the week is located in the center of the arboretum, near the basement entrance to the Student Union Building. It grows in full sun at the top of a gradual slope.

With the sun hitting its leaves, our black hickory shows varying shades of gold, bronze, yellow and orange. In the photo above, sunrays directly hit the left (southern) side of the tree, resulting in bright yellow leaves. Dark orange leaves appear on the right (northern) side of the tree.

From another angle, we can appreciate the pleasant pyramidal form of the black hickory.

The clear blue sky contrasts with the yellow-orange triangular apex of the black hickory. The effect is similar to that of the Great Pyramid at Giza,the apex of which was originally plated with gold to catch the sun's fire. The hickory certainly achieves its beauty with much less work.

 

Tree of the Week: Black Hickory (Carya texana)

Our resident black hickory looks extra sharp this week; its fall foliage makes it stand out in the landscape.

This specimen is 24 years old. In 1996, Professor Leuck collected a black hickory nut from the grounds of the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center, located at the corner of Highway 1 and Stoner Avenue. Now, in 2020, we have a medium sized tree with beautiful yellow-orange autumnal coloration.

Unripe Hickory Nuts in August (Carya spp.)

Three unripe hickory nuts are pictured below. The largest fruit, pictured left, is from the Black Hickory (Carya texana). It is pumpkin-shaped and measures approximately 2 inches in length. The fruit of the Nutmeg Hickory (Carya myristiciformis) is pictured center. It is egg-shaped, measuring less than 2 inches in length. The Bitter Pecan (Carya aquatica) nut is pictured on the right. It might appear sphere-shaped, but it is noticeably flattened (oblate) when held in hand. The bitter pecan nut measures approximately 1.5 inches in length.

Black Hickory (Carya texana)

Late in August, we can appreciate the very large fruits of the black hickory (Carya texana).

Fruit and twig

Fruit detail

Immature Fruit

The black hickory (Carya texana) isn't wasting any time this spring. Less than a month ago we were measuring catkins, and now we already see substantially developed fruits.

The large fruits are still growing.

Tree of the Week: Black Hickory (Carya texana)

Nearly a month ago we celebrated the first day of spring. The pollen was particularly thick that week. Since then, several heavy rains have washed the fine yellow dust from the cars, buildings, and tree trunks. But many trees, notably the hickories, are still hard at work producing pollen. Our tree of the week is one such specimen.

There is one black hickory (Carya texana) in the arboretum collection. In 1996, Ed Leuck collected a black hickory nut from the grounds of the Veterans Affairs Hospital, along Clyde Fant Parkway in Shreveport. The nut was properly cared for, and the resulting tree now stands near the Student Union Building. This spring the 20-year-old tree is festooned with innumerable catkins. 

The black hickory is pictured center, just left of the gravel path. This is a high traffic area and has recently been a central node for students' Capture the Flag. This area is also very sunny and as the tree grows up, it will provide very desirable summer shade.

This black hickory has a straight trunk. The enormous loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) looming in the background has a straight trunk, too.

We are seeing a lot of catkins on this black hickory. More catkins means more pollen in the air, on the buildings, on your shoes, in your cereal bowl, etc..

The catkins are not one uniform length: they measure from 3 to 7 inches.

Black hickories have pinnately compound leaves, with 5 to 7 leaflets.

The new leaves are still stretching out.

These springtime leaflets measure 3 to 5 inches long.

Underneath, the leaves are pale green.

Zooming in on the serrated leaflets, we see small patches of orange particles where the leaflet connects to the leafstalk.

At eye level, the bark on the trunk is gray and fissured.

At the base of the trunk, the bark is dark gray and very rough.

You can see more photos of the arboretum's black hickory here.


For more information about this species consult the following:
United States Department of Agriculture
Stephen F. Austin State University
Texas A&M University
Illinois State Museum 

Carya texana