Hickory Nuts or Potential Trees

My brother-in-law is retired and interested in what is happening in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that extends up into Lancaster, Pennsylvania and the Susquahanna River. A lot of the trees that used to be plentiful have been depleated with the expansion of population growth. He is part of a group (Riparian Rangers) that is collecting nuts to plant and grow seedlings to plant along the rivers and streams. I told him of the Hickory trees at the edge of my yard. He asked me to collect some of the nuts and send them to him. I collected a coffee can full of nuts and sent them to him.

He found there were two distinct species of nut in the collection. One he identified as Shagbark and the other he was not sure of, but said they were all healthy-looking nuts. You can see the nuts in the top photo have a slight indention at the point. He will keep all of them in the fridge for 120 days at which time they should be sprouting. He will replant them and grow seedlings to put along the streams nearby.

Tiny little nuts

Under the right conditions

Grow and multiply

Shagbark Hickory Nuts

Young Hickory trees growing at the edge of my yard.

Photos: Don Ziegler

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Riparian Rangers