Special Uses
Hickories provide food to many kinds of wildlife (8,13). The nuts are relished by several species of squirrel and represent an estimated 10 to 25 percent of their diet. Nuts and flowers are eaten by the wild turkey and several species of songbirds. Nuts and bark are eaten by black bears, foxes, rabbits, and raccoons. Small mammals eat the nuts and leaves; 5 to 10 percent of the diet of eastern chipmunks is hickory nuts. White-tailed deer occasionally browse hickory leaves, twigs, and nuts.
The kernel of hickory seeds is exceptionally high in crude fat, up to 70 to 80 percent in some species. Crude protein, phosphorus, and calcium contents are generally moderate to low. Crude fiber is very low.
Pignut hickory makes up a small percentage of the biomass in low-quality upland hardwood stands that are prime candidates for clearcutting for chips or fuelwood as the first step toward rehabilitation to more productive stands. Hickory has a relatively high heating value and is used extensively as a home heating fuel.
Pignut hickory is an important shade tree in wooded suburban areas over most of the range but is seldom planted as an ornamental tree.
Read more about this topic: Carya Glabra
Famous quotes containing the word special:
“Our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different.”
—William James (18421910)
“The treatment of the incident of the assault upon the sailors of the Baltimore is so conciliatory and friendly that I am of the opinion that there is a good prospect that the differences growing out of that serious affair can now be adjusted upon terms satisfactory to this Government by the usual methods and without special powers from Congress.”
—Benjamin Harrison (18331901)