A tree 30 to 50 ft high in the wild, the bark of the trunk nearly black, furrowed, not scaly; young shoots covered with reddish down. Leaves up to 1 ft or more long, made up of usually seven leaflets, the lower ones of which are smaller and lanceolate, the larger terminal ones oblanceolate; all pointed, tapered at the base, evenly and finely toothed; 3 to 6 in. long, 3⁄4 to 21⁄2 in. wide; downy on the veins beneath, scaly and with tufts of down in the vein-axils. Fruit (as figured by Sargent) nearly globose, 11⁄2 in. wide.
Native of the S. Central United States; introduced to Kew from the Arnold Arboretum in 1924. It is very healthy but, like many hickories, grows slowly when young or after being transplanted. The leaves on young plants are larger than the dimensions given above.
var. arkansana Sarg. – Fruit obovoid, rounded at the apex (the type has usually a pointed fruit). This also is in cultivation.