Bitternut Hickory
Carya cordiformis (Wangenh.) K. Koch
Swamp hickory
Occurs in southern Ontario and southern Quebec. The most abundant and widespread of Canadian hickories.

Leaves: 7-11 leaflets on a central stalk, 12-20 cm long.
Terminal leaflet is seldom larger than the uppermost lateral pair.
Leaflets are long-pointed, narrow, scythe-shaped, finely toothed.
Upper surface is shiny dark green; paler, hairy, and dotted beneath.
Buds: Terminal bud is slender, tapering, and flattened, 10-18 mm long, dark yellow, granular with 2-4 scales. Scales do not overlap. Lateral buds are smaller, often more than one above a leaf scar, angular, and often stalked.
Leaf scars are small, oval to 3-lobed, slightly raised.
Bud scales enlarge markedly as the new shoot emerges.
Twigs: Slender, smooth, shiny, greenish- to grayish-brown, often slightly hairy.
Fruits: Globular, broadest toward the tip, 20-35 mm long, solitary or in pairs.
Husk is thin, covered with yellowish matted hairs, with 4 ridges extending below a short sharp tip.
4 ridges; shell thin.. kernel reddish-brown and very bitter
Nut is broadest at the base, flattened.
Shell is thin, can be cut with a knife.
Bark: Greenish-gray with grayish-yellow irregular vertical lines when young.
Smooth for many years, later separating into shallow narrow fissures and scaly ridges with age.
Never with loose plate-like scales.
Size and Form: Medium-sized trees, up to 25 m high, 50 cm in diameter, and can live up to 150 years.
Trunk is long, branch-free, with little taper.
Crown is short, rounded, with slender ascending branches spreading out toward the top. Side branchlets often curving downward.
Habitat: Occurs on moist lowlands, also on rich soils on higher ground.
Mixed with other broadleaf trees.
Moderately shade-tolerant.
Notes: Wood is used for producing smoke that gives hams and bacon a hickory-smoked flavor. The only pecan hickory native to Canada, though its nut kernel is inedible.