PlantFiles: Sand Hickory, Pale Hickory
Carya pallida

I'm 50 years old now. When I was a kid and our family moved into another house in Boonton NJ, there was this tree in the back yard.

That move was about 1967.

I always knew it was a hickory but - - - -well it's Easter Sunday 2007 and after all that time I finally found out what kind of hickory it is, thanks to the internet. The Sand Hickory. Not an attractive name at all. There's no sand in Boonton. The tree grows in the middle of a slate patio. It must be about full grown because the trunk of it is still about an inch inside the circular boundary in the slate after all these years.

This is the only tree of its kind I've ever seen. Indeed rare in the northeast states.

So, the details of owning one of these majestic trees.....

1 They're very messy. Catkins fall in the late spring necessitating using the broom to keep the patio clean.

2 Squirrels LOVE the abundant nuts in the fall, necessitating bringing the broom out very often. Hulls and husk fragments are abundant. Falling nuts will dent your car!

3 Gypsy moths prefer eating the leaves of these trees more than any species of oak. It's ambrosia to them. Again messy. You can hear the caterpillar rain down through the leaves. Half eaten leaves fall in abundance. Think broom again Daily. This tree has been eaten bare some years.

SO you may ask why I gave this a positive rating. Purely emotional with lots of nostalgia too.

There is a stature of this tree of the kind that has touched me like no other. I grew up with this tree. It's an almost timeless living thing! It was right outside my 2nd floor bedroom window. Summer nights filled my room with its unique aroma. Its waving branches nearly touching me. The breeze through its leaves singing me to sleep. Knowing of its pain during bad gypsy moth seasons.
Hearing dry rain of bugs.

Well, It's 2007 now and that tree is still there and has borne the passing of time better than I have. Mom is still there but Dad has passed . It will kill me if future owners of that estate ever do anything bad to that tree ! Some of me will also die that day.

Last fall I gathered some nuts and put them in a large jar with sterile planting medium. I put the sealed jar in my shed to over-winter and about the end of March have brought it in the house desperately hoping they will sprout. No change yet.

It should also be noted that in all my years living with my parents at that house I've NEVER seen a nut succeed in sprouting on the lawn! Maybe the reason for the rarity of this tree.

Be well and prosper

The only Hickory with 7 to 9 leaflets and a small (less than 1/4" end bud) Leaves sometimes have a silvery- scaly look underneath.

This is one of the smaller Hickories with most trees at about 50' when mature. Pretty much a Southeastern tree, but it has been seen in IN,,IL, NJ and PA.

The trunk is pale to darker gray and sometimes shaggy.The nuts are sweet and good to eat. Animals depend on the nuts for winter food.

The Pignut Hickory is the closest relative, but has larger end buds.