Carya cordiformis, the Bitternut Hickory, also called bitternut or swamp hickory, is a large pecan hickory with commercial stands located mostly north of the other pecan hickories. Bitternut hickory is cut and sold in mixture with the true hickories. It is the shortest lived of the hickories, living to about 200 years. It is a large deciduous tree, growing up to 35 meters tall (exceptionally to 47 m), with a trunk up to 1 m diameter. The leaves are 15-30 cm long, pinnate, with 7-11 leaflets, each leaflet lanceolate, 7-13 cm long, with the apical leaflets the largest but only slightly so. The flowers are small wind-pollinated catkins, produced in spring. The fruit is a very bitter nut, 2-3 cm long with a green four-valved cover which splits off at maturity in the fall, and a hard, bony shell. Another identifying characteristic is its bright sulfur-yellow winter buds. No other hickory has this distinguishing feature.
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