Hickory vs. Shagbark — What's the Difference?

Hickory is a common name for trees comprising the genus Carya, which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexico, and two to four are from Canada.

A North-American hickory (Carya ovata) that has shaggy bark in mature trees; shagbark hickory

Any of several chiefly North American deciduous trees of the genus Carya, having smooth or shaggy bark, pinnately compound leaves, and hard smooth nuts, each containing an edible seed and surrounded by a husk that splits into four valves.

A West Indian leguminous tree, Pithecellobium micradenium.

The tough, heavy wood of one of these trees.

A rough-barked species of hickory (Carya alba), its nut. Called also shellbark. See Hickory.

A walking stick or switch made from such wood.

North American hickory having loose gray shaggy bark and edible nuts

Of or pertaining to the hickory tree or its wood.

(countable) Any of various deciduous hardwood trees of the genus Carya or Annamocarya.

Carya illinoinensis is the source of pecan nuts.

(uncountable) The wood of these trees.

A coarse, durable cotton fabric.

A club made from this wood.

An American tree of the genus Carya, of which there are several species. The shagbark is the Carya alba, and has a very rough bark; it affords the hickory nut of the markets. The pignut, or brown hickory, is the Carya glabra. The swamp hickory is Carya amara, having a nut whose shell is very thin and the kernel bitter.

Valuable tough heavy hardwood from various hickory trees

American hardwood tree bearing edible nuts