Mockernut Hickory
Carya tomentosa
Click or tap the section titles below to learn more about this species!
CLASSIFICATION: What’s in a name?
Scientific Name: Carya tomentosa. The genus name Carya comes from the Greek word karyon, meaning nut, and the epithet tomentosa is Latin, meaning covered in dense fine hairs (referring to the leaves).2,6
Common Name: Mockernut Hickory. The etymology of this name is uncertain, but some think that “mockernut” comes from the large nuts being mostly husk! Another common name is white hickory, referring to the color of the wood.12
Family: Juglandaceae (Walnut family). Why do you think scientists placed it in this plant family? Plants in the walnut family are shrubs and trees with catkins for flowers, pinnately compound leaves, and large nuts.11 Familiar and commercially important species in this family include walnuts and pecans. There are about 50 species found worldwide and 11 in Virginia.1
IDENTIFICATION: What does it look like?
Average Height: 60-100 feet1
Description: A medium-sized to large tree with a straight trunk. Bark is smooth on young stems and becomes tightly diamond-furrowed with age. Has stout curving twigs and large terminal buds. The leaves are large and pinnately compound, having 7 to 11 oval leaflets with finely toothed margins and densely fuzzy rachises, petioles, and leaf undersides. Catkins appear with the emerging leaves in spring, and the tree bears large nuts in the fall with very thick husks that split along 4 lines.
Bloom time: Apr – May1
Notes: Mockernut is similar to other hickories, but is easily distinguished by having fuzzy rachises and leaf undersides, with 7-11 leaflets and large terminal buds. Other hickories in Virginia do not have this combination of characteristics.1
LOCATION: Where is it at home?
Range: A very widespread tree, found from Massachusetts west to Iowa and Kansas, and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida.3 In Virginia it is very common statewide and is known from most counties.7
Geology/Soil: Found in a wide variety of soil chemistries and types, except for wet soils.8
Habitat: A wide variety of forests, woodlands, and oak-hickory savannas. Found at all but the highest elevations in Virginia.7
CONNECTIONS: What are its relationships to other plants, animals, and humans?
Flora associations: Carya tomentosa grows with a huge array of other plant species. At the McIntire Park Triangle Trails, it can be found alongside other trees like white oak (Quercus alba), northern red oak (Quercus rubra), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), red maple (Acer rubrum), flowering dogwood (Benthamidia florida), and pignut hickory (Carya glabra), as well as numerous herbaceous plants such as mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), and white wood aster (Eurybia divaricata).
Fauna associations: Hickory nuts are a tremendously valuable food source for wildlife including squirrels, chipmunks, turkeys, black bears, and white-footed mice. Many insect species also eat the leaves of mockernut and other hickories including the hickory tussock moth (Lophocampa caryae), royal walnut moth (Citheronia regalis), hickory hairstreak (Satyrium caryaevorum), and banded hairstreak (Satyrium calanus).4 If you look closely at a mockernut trunk, you might see rows of small, shallow round holes. These are made by the yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), a woodpecker which drinks the sap that oozes out of these holes, but also eats insects trapped in it!
Human associations: Many Indigenous Peoples prize the nuts of this species and other hickories as a delicious snack, as well as for making a rich and nutritious nut milk. In fact, one Indigenous name for this drink, powcohicora, is where the word “hickory” comes from!9,10 Hickory wood is also used as a firewood and for smoking meats, and for making objects which need to be both strong and flexible, like tool handles and baseball bats.
We want these plants to thrive and for everyone who gets to visit the park to enjoy them, so remember – don’t pick flowers or other parts of the plant!!
Bibliography & Definitions
1 Weakley, A.S., J.C. Ludwig, and J.F. Townsend. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Bland Crowder, ed. Foundation of the Flora of Virginia Project, Inc., Richmond. Fort Worth: Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press.
2 Biodiversity occurrence data published by: SEINet Portal Network (accessed through the SEINet Portal Network Portal, https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet, 2025-01-22).
3 Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. Taxonomic Data Center. (http://www.bonap.net/tdc). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)]
4 Hilty, John. “Mockernut Hickory (Carya Tomentosa).” Illinoiswildflowers.info, 2025 www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/mock_hickory.html. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
5 Smith, H. Clay. “Carya Tomentosa (Poir.” Www.srs.fs.usda.gov, www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/carya/tomentosa.htm.
6 Stone, Donald E. “Carya – FNA.” Floranorthamerica.org, 2020, floranorthamerica.org/Carya. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
7 Virginia Botanical Associates. “Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora | Carya Tomentosa (Poir.) Nutt.” Vaplantatlas.org, 2025, www.vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=2586&search=Search. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
8 Weakley, A. S. , and SE Flora Team. “Carya Tomentosa (Mockernut Hickory) – FSUS.” Unc.edu, 2024, fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/main.php?pg=show-taxon.php&&plantname=carya&limit=1&offset=13&taxonid=595. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
9 “BRIT – Native American Ethnobotany Database.” Brit.org, 2025, naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=carya. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
10 Harvard Arboretum. Tree-of-The-Month. Carya illinoinensis.
11 “Fagales | Definition, Characteristics, & Facts | Britannica.” Www.britannica.com, www.britannica.com/plant/Fagales#ref992760.
12 “Carya Tomentosa – Plant Finder.” Missouribotanicalgarden.org, 2025, www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=281357. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
Definitions:
Catkin: A cluster of small flowers, usually wind-pollinated, that hangs from the branches of woody plants in early spring.
Petiole: A leaf stalk. In a compound leaf, the leaf stalk below the first pair of leaflets.
Pinnately compound: A leaf with leaflets arranged along a central axis.
Rachis: In a compound leaf, the axis from the first pair of leaflets to the terminal leaflet.
Terminal bud: The bud located at the tip of a twig or branch.