Tree Description:
A slender tree of forested wetlands, attaining a height of 100 feet and a trunk diameter up to 2 feet, with its upright branches forming a narrow crown. The branches, twigs, and leaves lack prickles or thorns.
Range/Site Description:
Found throughout East Texas, growing in bottomlands and rich, wet woods.
Leaf:
Alternate, once-compound, 9" to 15" long, with 11 to 15 slender leaflets, though sometimes fewer; each leaflet is 3" to 5" long and 0.5" to 1" wide, lanceolate, and finely-toothed along the margin; the terminal leaflets are usually longer than the ones towards the base of the leaf. Leaves are light green on top, paler beneath, turning yellow in fall.
Flower:
Male and female flowers borne separately on the same tree in spring; the male in three-branched catkins 2.5" to 3" long, the female in short clusters at the end of the branches.
Fruit:
The fruits are often borne in clusters of 3 or 4; the nut itself is flattened, oval, 1.5" long and 1" wide, pointed, and enclosed in a thin, red-brown, four-angled hull that splits to the base. The shell of the nut is thin, with a bitter kernel, giving it one of its common names, "bitter pecan."
Bark:
Gray-brown and smooth at first, developing into long, loose, thick, plate-like scales.
Wood:
Heavy, strong, close-grained, brown, and rather brittle. Probably used only for fuelwood.
Similar Species:
Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) has wider leaflets and a large, cylindrical nut; bitternut hickory (C. cordiformis) has 7 to 11 leaflets, a small, round nut, and sulphur-yellow winter buds.
Interesting Facts:
Several duck species eat the flat nuts during winter when the bottomlands containing water hickory are often flooded for extended periods.
