Carya ovata

Shagbark hickory is in the walnut or Juglandaceae family and is common in the Eastern United States (although largely absent from the south-eastern and Gulf coastal plains and lower Mississippi Delta) and in south-eastern Canada.

• Leaves are alternate, pinnately compound, 30–60 cm long, with 5 (rarely 3 or 7) leaflets, the terminal 3 leaflets much larger than the basal pair.
• The species is monoecious. Male (staminate) flowers are borne on long-stalked catkins in the axils of the previous season's leaves. Female (pistillate) flowers are very short, on short terminal spikes.
• Fruit is an edible nut (a drupe) 2.5 to 4.0 cm long, with hard, bony shell, contained in a thick, green four-sectioned husk which turns dark and splits off in the fall.
• Leaf scars are raised, 3-lobed "happy face"; terminal buds are large and covered with loose scales.
• Bark is shaggy, as its name implies, although only on mature trees; young trees have smooth bark.