Hickory
Description
Any of several North American trees of the genus Carya, such as the white hickory tree (Hicoria alba). Hickory trees are found from New Hampshire to Texas. Hickory timber is valued because it is strong, elastic and shock resistant. The reddish brown wood has a straight grain and a fine texture that polishes well. Pecan is one well-known type of hickory. Hickory is used for flooring, tool handles, farm implements, chairs, wheel spokes, golf clubs, and baseball bats. It is also split into thin canes for weaving.
See also Hickory bark
Synonyms and Related Terms
white hickory trees (Hicoria alba, Carya alba, or Carya tomentosa); shagbark hickory (Carya ovata); pecan (Hicoria pecan or Carya illinoinensis); Almindelig Hassel (Dan.); Gemeine Hasel (Deut.); Haselstrauch (Deut.); Haselnußstrauch (Deut.); pecan (Esp.); noisetier (Fr.); coudrier (Fr.); Nocciolo (It.); Avellana (It.); hazelaar (Ned.); Hassel (Nor.); Leszczyna pospolita (Pol.); cária (Port.); hasseln (Sven.)
Other Properties
Medium tree growin to 30 m with straight trunk and rounded crown. Bark=gray with shallow ridges and furrows. Leaves=oval (20-30cm) with serrated edges Fruit=obovoid (3-5 cm) with thick husk containing edible ribbed nut.
| Density | 37-58 ppcf |
|---|
Additional Images
Pig-nut Hickory (Hicoria ovata)
Pig-nut Hickory (Hicoria ovata)
Pig-nut Hickory (Hicoria ovata)
Shagbark hickory Carya ovata
Authority
- F. H. Titmuss, Commercial Timbers of the World, The Technical Press Ltd., London, 1965 Comment: 45-55 ppcf
- Edward Reich, Carlton J. Siegler, Consumer Goods: How to Know and Use Them, American Book Company, New York City, 1937
- Website address 1 Comment: Virginia Tech Dendrology website at www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/main.htm (accessed Oct. 8, 2005)
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hickory (Accessed Oct. 8, 2005)
- G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 396
- Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976
- Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
- The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, Robert Weast (ed.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, v. 61, 1980 Comment: density=37-58 ppcf (0.60-0.93 g/cm3)