shagbark hickory

andy loebs 

Saw-stalked maple. Sister shag. Her secret isn’t safe in an ivory purse; there’s a certain mapley dew that rolls off her lance-shaped leaves and catches in the soft valleys of her voice. Like a honeyguide, a red squirrel shows us exactly when and where we should unwrap her husk. About when it’s time to draw the drapes — when the last trees are felled for winter; here, we get a glimmer of spring. Like sap weeping from the maple in early March, Shagbark Hickory drupes are buttery and sweet. These stores of fats and sugars are often held for 5 years before there’s a banner year, and this energy is clearly transmitted by the fruit they bear.  

Etymology: Carya ovata, roughly meaning egg-shaped nut with connotations of exultation or praise. Carya comes from the pre-Classical ‘Nut Tree Goddess.’ 

Properties: A tree in the walnut family that is present in most of the eastern US, with the exception of the Gulf’s coastal plains. Unlike pecans, the shagbark hickory is self-fertilizing. Hickory milk was a significant food for the Alongquin who used it to make corn cakes and hominy. Its wood imparts wonderful flavor to smoked meats, and the bark can be boiled to create a maple-like syrup. Hickory nuts are also a great source of healthy fats, trace minerals, antioxidants and B Vitamins. Using the doctrine of signatures, or the sympathetic connection between a plant’s physical qualities and its healing properties, we can infer a number of things about hickories.They symbolize patience, as they are very slow growing and require great stores of nutrients to fruit. Hickories also have connotations of release, rebirth and resurrection. Like the snake, the hickory sloughs off its old skin with time. As a deciduous tree, it loses its flowers, leaves and fruit each year. Hickory wood is an ideal construction material for tools such as axe handles, bows, looms and spokes because it is highly flexible and strong. 

Companions: Hickories are an important food source for squirrels, foxes, bears, rabbits and bobwhites. Their loose bark also creates a nesting habitat for the Indiana Bat. Although they serve the same culinary purpose as pecans, even the largest of trees produce unreliable crops making them unsuitable for commercial orchards. However, hickories and pecans can hybridize and a few “hican” varieties are commercially propagated. I often find choice edible boletes, such as: Hemileccinum hortonii, Tylopilus alboater and Boletus separans in association with oak and shagbark hickories. 

Recipe: Shagbark Hickory Ice Cream

Sound Design: Andy Loebs