Carya tomentosa, mockernut hickory
Coladonato, Milo. 1992. Carya tomentosa, mockernut hickory. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/cartom
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | ||||
| CARTOM | mockernut hickory | Carya tomentosa | Life Form: Plants/Tree Kingdom: Plantae Class: Dicot Order: Juglandales Family: Juglandaceae Genus: Carya | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Taxonomy
The currently accepted scientific name for mockernut hickory is Carya tomentosa Nutt. [19]. Recognized morphological varieties based on differences in the leaves and fruit include [32]:
- var. subcoriacea (Sarg.) Palm. & Steyermark, commonly known as Gulf mockernut hickory, it is distinguished from the typical variety by having thicker, more pubescent leaves, and a fruit more prominently angled with thicker and larger nuts.
- var. ficoides Sarg., commonly known as fig mockernut hickory, is distinguished from the typical variety by having a stipelike base to the fruit.
- var. ovoidea Sarg., commonly known as ovoid mockernut hickory, is distinguished from the typical variety by having a long-acuminate ovoid fruit.
Mockernut hickory hybrid products are [32]:
- C. tomentosa x C. illinoinensis = C. X schneckii Sarg.
- C. tomentosa x C. ovata = C. X collina Laughlin
Synonyms
- Carya alba (Mill.) K. Koch
Other Common Names
mockernut, white hickory, whiteheart hickory, hognut, bullnut
General Distribution
Mockernut hickory grows from Massachusetts and New York west to southern Ontario, southern Michigan, northern Illinois, southeastern Iowa, Missouri, and eastern Kansas; south to eastern Texas; and east to northern Florida. Mockernut hickory is most abundant southward through Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. It is also abundant in the lower Mississippi Valley and grows largest in the lower Ohio River Basin [4,28].
States and Provinces
- United States: AL AR CT DE FL GA IL IN IA KS KY LA MD MA MI MS MO NJ NY NC OH OK PA RI SC TN TX VA WV
Site Characteristics
In the north, mockernut hickory grows on rocky hills and slopes and less frequently on alluvial bottomlands [1]. In the Cumberland Mountains and in the hills of southern Indiana, it grows on dry sites, typically south and west slopes or dry ridges. Most of the merchantable mockernut hickory grows on moderately fertile uplands. It attains its best development on deep fertile soils [15,28].
In addition to those indicated by SAF cover types (Table A1) common tree associates of mockernut hickory include hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), sweet birch (Betula lenta), bitternut (Carya cordiformis), shagbark hickory (C. glabra), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), green ash (Fraxinus americana), and oaks (Quercus spp.) [18,23].
Plant Communities
No entry.
Botanical Description
Mockernut hickory, New Jersey.
Mockernut hickory is a medium-to-large native, deciduous tree, typically reaching a height of 65 to 100 feet (20-30 m) [10,12]. When grown in association with other trees, mockernut hickory develops a long, slender, straight trunk which is free of branchlets for about half the height of the tree. The crown is open, narrow, and rounded at the top. In the open, the crown covers much more of the length of the tree and is generally oblong, with branches that bear straight branchlets. Sometimes the branches droop. The trunk is often swollen at the base. As with other hickories, a deep strong taproot develops [8,14].
Raunkiaer Life Form (Raunkiaer 1934)
- Phanerophyte
Seasonal Development
Mockernut hickory flowers open from early April in central Florida to the end of May in eastern New England. The fruit ripens in September and October, and the seed is dispersed from September through December [21,31].
Regeneration Processes
Mockernut hickory with seeds, Culpepper Co., VA.
Seed production and dissemination
Mockernut hickory requires a minimum of 25 years to reach commercial seed-bearing age. Optimum production occurs from 40 to 125 years, and the maximum age for commercial seed production is 200 years. Good seed crops occur every 2 to 3 years. with light seed crops in the intervening years. Approximately 50 to 75 percent of the fresh seed will germinate [28].
Mockernut hickory has one of the heaviest seeds of the hickory genus. Cleaned seeds range from 32 to 113 per pound (70-200/kg). Seed is disseminated mainly by gravity, squirrels, and birds [28].
Seedling development
Hickory nuts seldom remain viable on the ground for more than 1 year. This species requires a moderately moist seedbed for satisfactory seed germination; germination is epigeal. Seedlings are slow growing.
Vegetative reproduction
Mockernut hickory will sprout prolifically from the stump after cutting or fire. As the stumps increase in size, the number of stumps that produce sprouts decreases [28].
Successional Status
Mockernut hickory is classified as intolerant of shade, but at certain times during its life, may be variously classified as tolerant to intolerant. It recovers rapidly from disturbances and is probably a climax species on moist sites [17,28].
Immediate Fire Effects
Winter burning in a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) stand in the lower Atlantic Coastal Plain top-killed all mockernut hickory up to 4 inches (10 cm) d.b.h. [13].
Postfire Regeneration Strategy (Stickney 1989)
- survivor species; on-site surviving root crown or caudex
- off-site colonizer; seed carried by animals or water; postfire yr 1&2
Fire Adaptations
Mockernut hickory is extremely sensitive to fire because of the low insulating capacity of the bark [24,28].
Plant Response to Fire
Mockernut hickory will sprout from the stump after aboveground portions are killed by fire [3,6].
Fire Regimes
For fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name or acronym on the home page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
Fire Management Considerations
Late spring and early summer fires have the greatest weakening effect on mockernut hickory. Repeated annual fires has eliminated mockernut hickory in the prairies and central plains [13].
Federal Status
None
Other Status
No entry.
Importance to Wildlife and Livestock
Mockernuts are preferred mast for wildlife, especially squirrels. Black bears, foxes, beavers, and white-footed mice feed on the nuts, and sometimes the bark. White-tailed deer browse the foliage, twigs and nuts. Mockernuts are a minor source of food for ducks, quail, and turkey [28].
Palatability and Nutritional Value
No entry.
Cover Value
Mockernut hickory provides cavity-nesting sites for a variety of birds in the Missouri oak-hickory forest [2,7,27].
Value for Rehabilitation or Restoration of Disturbed Sites
The deep lateral roots of mockernut hickory make it a valuable species for watershed protection [25].
Other Uses
Mockernut hickory sawdust and chips are often used commercially to smoke meats. Although mockernut kernels are edible, because of their size they are rarely eaten by humans [25,28].
Nearly 80 percent of harvested mockernut hickory is used to manufacture tool handles, for which its hardness, toughness, stiffness, and strength make it especially suitable. Other uses include agricultural implements, dowels, gymnasium equipment, poles, and furniture. Mockernut hickory is also used for lumber, pulpwood, charcoal, and fuelwood [25,29].
Other Management Considerations
Mockernut hickory seedling establishment is difficult due to seed predation. Infrequent bumper crops produce some seed, but seedling survival is poor under a dense canopy. Clearcutting results in new sapling stands when advanced regeneration is present. Without advanced regeneration, clearcutting eliminates mockernut hickory except for stump sprouting [22,28].
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems (Garrison et al. 1977)
- FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
- FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
- FRES14 Oak - pine
- FRES15 Oak - hickory
- FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
- FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
- FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
BLM Physiographic Regions (Bernard and Brown 1977)
- No entry.
Kuchler Plant Associations (Kuchler 1964)
- K089 Black Belt
- K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
- K097 Southeastern spruce - fir forest
- K100 Oak - hickory
- K101 Elm - ash forest
- K102 Beech - maple forest
- K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
- K104 Appalachian oak forest
- K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
- K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
- K112 Southern mixed forest
- K113 Southern floodplain forest
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 40 Post oak - blackjack oak
- 42 Bur oak
- 43 Bear oak
- 44 Chestnut oak
- 45 Pitch pine
- 46 Eastern redcedar
- 51 White pine - chestnut oak
- 52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
- 53 White oak
- 55 Northern red oak
- 57 Yellow-poplar
- 60 Beech - sugar maple
- 61 River birch - sycamore
- 64 Sassafras - persimmon
- 65 Pin oak - sweet gum
- 70 Longleaf pine
- 71 Longleaf pine - scrub oak
- 72 Southern scrub oak
- 75 Shortleaf pine
- 76 Shortleaf pine - oak
- 78 Virginia pine - oak
- 79 Virginia pine
- 80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
- 81 Loblolly pine
- 82 Loblolly pine - hardwood
- 83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
- 87 Sweetgum - yellow-poplar
- 91 Swamp chestnut oak - cherrybark oak
- 92 Sweetgum - willow oak
- 93 Sugarberry - American elm - green ash
- 110 Black oak
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
- No entry.
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