VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Carya cordiformis | Bitternut Hickory 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
The hardwood of bitternut hickory is used for making tools, furniture,
paneling, dowels, and ladders.  Bitternut hickory is also desirable for
charcoal and fuelwood [16,26].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Bitternut hickory fruit is generally considered unpalatable to wildlife
[28].  Rabbits, beavers, and small rodents will occasionally feed on the
bark of bitternut hickory [26].
 


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
The foliage of bitternut hickory has a high calcium content [26].


COVER VALUE : 
Bitternut hickory provides nesting sites for a variety of cavity-nesting
birds in the Missouri oak-hickory forest [1].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
The deep lateral roots of bitternut hickory make it a valuable species
for watershed protection.  Bitternut hickory has been grown successfully
on zinc mine waste sites in southwestern Wisconsin [2].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Smoke from the wood of bitternut hickory is used to give hams and bacon
a "hickory smoked" flavor [16,23].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Establishing hickory trees from seedlings is difficult because of seed
predators.  Infrequent bumper crops usually produce some seedlings, but
seedling survival is poor under a dense canopy.  Wherever advance
reproduction is adequate, clearcutting results in fast-growing sapling
stands.  If there is no advance hickory reproduction, clearcutting
eliminates hickories except for stump sprouts.  Light thinnings or
shelterwood cuts can be used to create advance hickory regeneration
[15,21,26].

In three studies that were carried out in adjacent fields in southern
Ontario, atttempts to establish bitternut hickory in open-field
plantations were unsuccessful.  Sowing of nuts was the least successful
method of afforestation because either germination or height increments
were too low [30].

Related categories for Species: Carya cordiformis | Bitternut Hickory