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Carya aquatica (F.Michx.)Nutt.
Water Hickory
Florida native
A frequent tree mainly of floodplain forests in much of Florida although not occurring the the four southernmost counties. Ranges throughout the southeast west into Texas and Oklahoma, northwest into Missouri, Illinois and Indiana and northeast into Virginia.
Water hickories are medium to large deciduous trees growing up to 35m (115 ft.) tall. The odd-pinnate compound leaves are alternate and up to 30cm (12 in.) long. Most often there are 9 or 11 leaflets per leaf, but can be as few as 7 and as many as 17. Leaflets are lanceolate, usually with serrate teeth along the margin, 7-10cm (2-3/4 to 4 in.) long and 1-3cm (4/10 to 1-3/16 in.) wide. The fruit is a nut in a hard husk with four ridges that split all the way to the base when mature.
Carya aquatica is a member of the Juglandaceae - Walnut family.
Other species of the Carya genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Carya glabra - PIGNUT HICKORY
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Jun 04, 2023
