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 it's kind I've ever seen.
Indeed rare in the northeast states.
Please email me at [e-mail:bugs71@ptdprolog.net] and use the
subject header "sand hickory" for bantor.

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 crap 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.
It's waving branches nearly touching me. The breeze
through it's leaves singing me to sleep.
Knowing of it's pain during bad gypsy moth seasons.
Hearing dry rain of bug crap.

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.

If anyone can help me as to how to grow these trees
from seed (nut) or how to propagate cuttings,
PLEASE email me at the above address.

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.