{"id":19964,"date":"2022-08-23T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T13:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=19964"},"modified":"2025-07-30T12:10:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T16:10:02","slug":"intro-to-trees-of-indiana-shagbark-hickory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/intro-to-trees-of-indiana-shagbark-hickory\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Trees of Indiana: Shagbark Hickory"},"content":{"rendered":"

The classic and trusted book “Fifty Common Trees of Indiana” by T.E. Shaw was\u00a0published in 1956 as a user-friendly guide to local species.\u00a0\u00a0Nearly 70 years later, the publication has\u00a0been updated through a joint effort by the Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources,\u00a0Indiana 4-H<\/a>, and\u00a0the\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a>, and reintroduced as “An Introduction to Trees of Indiana.”<\/p>\n

\"Drawing<\/a>The\u00a0full publication<\/a>\u00a0is available for download for $7 in the Purdue Extension Education Store. The field guide helps identify common Indiana woodlot trees.<\/p>\n

Each week, the Intro to\u00a0Trees of Indiana web\u00a0series will offer a sneak peek at one species from the book, paired with an\u00a0ID That Tree video from Purdue Extension forester\u00a0Lenny Farlee<\/a>\u00a0to help visualize each species as it stands in the woods.\u00a0Threats to species\u00a0health\u00a0as well as\u00a0also\u00a0insight into the wood provided by the species, will be provided\u00a0through additional resources as well as the\u00a0Hardwoods of the Central Midwest<\/a>\u00a0exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.<\/p>\n

This week, we introduce the Shagbark hickory or\u00a0Carya ovata<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This species is easily identifiable by its rough, shaggy bark, which is often peeling off from the trunk in thin strips. Its unique leaves feature five leaflets, two held opposite one another toward the base of the stem and three held at the end of the leaf. The fruit is a large, four-ribbed nut with a husk that will split all the way open. In the fall, shagbark hickory can provide fall color in the form of its stunning golden or yellow leaves.<\/p>\n

Shagbark hickory has several close relatives. Shagbark can be differentiated from its cousin shellbark hickory, which features large stout twigs, seven to nine leaflets and typically has substantially larger nuts.<\/p>\n

Shagbark hickories grow to a mature height of 60 to 80 feet tall. They grow mostly in moist, well-drained soil and are often found in upland woodlands and savannas, ranging across the Eastern United States, except in the gulf and Atlantic coastal plains, as well as in portions of Canada along Lake Erie and Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.<\/p>\n

Shagbark hickory has a unique application in the furniture industry known as \u201cOld Hickory Furniture,\u201d which originated around 1900 in Indiana. This rustic furniture is made from hickory rounds or sapling with the bark left on, and was used in parks and other natural areas during his prime production.<\/p>\n