Tree · Juglandaceae
Shagbark hickory
Carya ovata
Shagbark hickory is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,109 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Shagbark hickory at a glance
- Native in
- 1,109 counties, across 34 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a PLANTS minimum temperature −40°F
- Mature height
- 75 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −40°F; zone 3a winters bottom out at −40°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Shagbark hickory is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,109 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,109 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 38 counties
- Arkansas 71 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 14 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 66 counties
- Iowa 10 counties
- Kansas 30 counties
- Kentucky 100 counties
- Louisiana 33 counties
- Maine 9 counties
- Massachusetts 12 counties
- Michigan 33 counties
- Minnesota 7 counties
- Mississippi 16 counties
- Missouri 113 counties
- Nebraska 6 counties
- New Hampshire 8 counties
- New Jersey 18 counties
- New York 45 counties
- North Carolina 23 counties
- Ohio 86 counties
- Oklahoma 16 counties
- Pennsylvania 66 counties
- Rhode Island 1 county
- South Carolina 4 counties
- Tennessee 47 counties
- Texas 8 counties
- Vermont 6 counties
- Virginia 54 counties
- West Virginia 37 counties
- Wisconsin 27 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 75 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 29 to 80 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4 to 7.3
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 48 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −40°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 140
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Juglandaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CAOV2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Carya ovata (PLANTS symbol CAOV2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources