I have looked around the Internet and cannot figure this out.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15374/PDRM3401-cropped.JPG)
Not sure that the 3 points of dehiscence of the husk is significant. It looks like pignut which should have a thin husk and the husk should not open more than 1/3 to 1/2 of its length when mature and hold on tightly to the nut
What is the bark like? Are the leaflets mainly in 5's and the rachis smooth? That would be pignut. If it is a shagbark, then the husk would be very thick and would open mostly all the way, expelling the nut. However, if it was one of the shagbarks, you would know it easily from the bark.
It could be sand hickory, but I don't believe that the leaf rachis would be smooth. Also, the husk usually splits to the base.
It may be too early to tell how much this husk will split at this point, but the husk appears to be thin versus thick.
Since the 3 vs 4 sections are not significant, I figure it is almost certainly pignut. However, I cannot be sure which tree this came from. There is a cluster of hickories that covers several thousand of square feet down by the lake. At a minimum there are both pignut and mockernut in this area.
I have seen no shagbark in my area. However, I suppose it is possible I have either sand or bitternut mixed in - and I think there is a 50-50 chance I have some red.
Yes, it is a thin husk. The mockernuts in the same area are very distinct with their thick husks.
Looks like pignut to me, but WDH and you folks down there know more about it than I do. I am still working on germinating some bitternut, then to find them. ;D :D :D
LL,
Red hickory is not recognized by some as a separate species, but rather it is thought to be a type of pignut (more 7 leaflet leaves, scaly bark, and a thin husk that splits to the base). I learned red and pignut as two distinct species, but I have also seen what I learned as red hickory referred to as a variety of pignut in the more recent plant ID manuals. In any event, they are very similar botanically.
It would be a good exercise for someone to figure out my hickories. Add that to the list for you and DL whenever you two can get up here.
We should try to get together for a Georgia game.
Well, I plan to attend two of the games this year. I have a daughter in the Red Coat Band, so I have to come up and see her perform :). It will be the Oklahoma State game and one other that I am not sure of yet.
In any event, a trip to your place is paramount on my list. Where exactly are these hickories in question ::). I assume you are on or near Lake Lanier.
On it.
In my sourwood identification post you can see the lake in the background. https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=26135.0
However, the lake does not look so good nowadays being 8.64 feet below full pool as of 0600 this morning (and dropping over an inch a day thanks to the Corp's spectacular "management plan" for Lanier and the ACF watershed).
That is cool that your kid is in the Redcoat band.
I will look at the calendar and see what looks good.