VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Carya glabra | Pignut Hickory 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Pignut hickory wood is heavy, hard, strong, tough, and elastic [41,54].
Early uses included broomhandles, skis, wagon wheels and, early
automobile parts [41,54].  Sporting goods, agricultural implements, and
tool handles are made from the wood of pignut hickory [24,41,54].
Specialty products include shuttle blocks, mallets, and mauls [51].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Browse:  White-tailed deer occasionally browse pignut hickory, and small
mammals may eat the leaves [51].

Nuts:  Pignut hickory nuts provide food for the fox squirrel in many
areas [33] and are preferred by the gray squirrel during fall and winter
in parts of New York [31].  Hickory nuts may comprise up to 10 to 25
percent of squirrel diets in some locations [51].  The eastern chipmunk
relies on hickory nuts for 5 to 10 percent of its diet [51].  Hickory
nuts are also eaten by the black bear, gray fox, raccoon, red squirrel,
pocket mouse, woodrat, and rabbits [27,51].  Hickory nuts are utilized
by black bears at lower elevations in parts of New England during the
fall; the abundance of such mast crops can affect black bear
reproductive success during the following year [12].  Value to fur and
game mammals is good [8].

Hickory nuts are eaten by many birds including the woodduck, ring-necked
pheasant, northern bobwhite, wild turkey, common crow, bluejay,
white-breasted nuthatch, red-bellied woodpecker, and yellow-bellied
sapsucker [37].  The value of hickory nuts to upland game birds and
songbirds is fair [8].


PALATABILITY : 
Pignut hickory nuts are highly palatable; browse appears to be of low
palatability.


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Browse:  The nutrient content of pignut hickory browse varies
seasonally.  Mean foliar ash content has been reported as 12.75 percent
in the spring and 11.61 percent during the fall [28].

Nuts:  Pignut hickory nuts are high in protein and fats [31].  Crude fat
content may reach 70 to 80 percent in some species of hickory [51].
Nuts are moderate to low in phosphorus, and calcium and very low in
crude fiber [51].  The nuts provide a relatively low rate of energy
uptake for gray squirrels.


COVER VALUE : 
Pignut hickory presumably provides cover for a variety of birds and
mammals.  Many hickories are used as den trees by several species of
squirrels [8].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Pignut hickory may have potential value for use on some types of
disturbed sites.  It recolonizes abandoned strip mines in Maryland and
West Virginia [22].

Pignut hickory can be readily propagated through seed.  Cleaned seed
averages 200 per pound (440/kg) [2].  Seed may be planted during the
fall or stratified and planted in the spring.  Pignut hickory is
difficult to transplant or to propagate by cuttings [51,54].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Nuts of pignut hickory are large and edible [401 and in some areas are
grown commercially, although they are of minor importance when compared
to shagbark hickory nuts [20].

Pignut hickory is used as a shade tree throughout much of its range
[51].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Insects/disease:  Some diseases cause premature nut drop [3].  Insect
and disease damage may be particularly severe and can result in the
death of large tracts of timber during drought years [51].

Damage:  Pignut hickory is windfirm and resists ice damage.

Mechanical treatment:  Hickories commonly produce epicormic branches or
water sprouts after pruning [7].

Chemical control:  Pignut hickory is resistant to most herbicides [39],
but good results have been obtained with Garlon [38,39].

Silviculture:  Following timber harvest, most hickory regeneration
develops from advance regeneration [48].  Some advance regeneration may
be mechanically damaged during logging operations, but plants typically
sprout readily and many quickly overtop older residual stems.  New
sprouts generally grow rapidly and develop a straight bole and rapid
growth.  Sprouts are considered the most desirable hickory regeneration
in new stands.  Hickory regeneration following various types of timber
harvest was as follows in an Indiana oak-hickory stand [48]:

                        clearcut          shelterwood       med. partial
                        (percent of total regeneration)

new seedlings            2                 2                 2
adv. regeneration       30                77                73
new sprouts             56                21                24
stump sprouts           12                 0                 1

Average early (fifth year) height growth of hickories was greater in
clearcut (11.0 feet [3.4 m]) stands than in selection (2.0 feet [0.6 m])
or shelterwood (3.2 feet [1.0 m]) treatments.  

Related categories for Species: Carya glabra | Pignut Hickory