Hickories
Carya texana
C. texana Buckley. Black Hickory
Black hickory is found west of the Mississippi River from Missouri
south to central Texas. Isolated populations occur in Illinois
and southern Indiana (distribution
map). The tree is found
on dry, shallow, upland sites in Texas, Arkansas and Louisians,
in association with Post Oak, Black­jack Oak and other Quercus
sp.
C. texana is identified by the rust colored, wavy-margined scales which cover the buds, husks, and lower leaf surfaces. Nuts are usually globose, brown, and thick shelled. Husks are thinner than in C. tomentosa, usually being less than 5 mm.
Black hickory has tight, diamond checkered bark which is usually dark grey to black, giving the tree its common name. Branches are often short and twisted, descending in the lower canopy but ascending in the upper canopy.
One cultivar of C. texana has been named: 'Aber', originating in Cherokee Co., Texas. The cultivar was originally named as C. ovalis, but the pictures of the nut and twigs (Reed 1946), coupled with known distributions of the two taxa, leave little doubt as to the identity of the cultivar.
The tetraploid black hickory
has been reported to hybridize with the tetraploid mockernut to
form C. X collina Laughlin and with the diploid water hickory
to form C. X ludoviciana (Ashe) Little.
LJ Grauke
, Research Horticulturist
& Curator
USDA-ARS Pecan Genetics
10200 FM 50
Somerville, TX 77879
tele: 979-272-1402
fax: 979-272-1401
e-mail: ljg@tamu.edu
Return to Species Index
Return to Species
Key
Go to Literature Cited
Return to Main Index