Carya laciniosa aka Kingnut

Carya laciniosa, also known as shellbark hickory, is a large deciduous tree in the Juglandaceae or walnut family. It is native to the eastern United States and Canada, primarily occurring in the Ohio and upper Mississippi River valleys. The tree is slow-growing, long-lived, and hard to transplant due to its long taproot, and is subject to insect damage. It has several common names including kingnut, big, bottom, thick, shagbark hickory, and bigleaf shagbark hickory. The shellbark hickory tree typically grows to 60-80 feet tall, with a narrow rounded crown and mature trunks reaching 3-4 feet in diameter. It features odd-pinnate compound leaves with 7 (less frequently 5 or 9) dark green, finely-toothed, broadly lance-shaped, pointed leaflets that range from 4-8 inches long. The non-showy, monoecious greenish yellow flowers appear in April-May, with the male flowers in pendulous catkins and the female flowers in short spikes. The female flowers give way to edible egg-shaped nuts, which are the largest of all hickory nuts and are encased in a very thick husk that splits open in four sections when ripe in fall. The wood of the shellbark hickory is hard, heavy, strong, and very flexible, making it a favored wood for tool handles. The nuts are sweet and edible, and are harvested by both wildlife and people. The remaining nuts produce seedling trees readily. The bark of young trees is gray and smooth, but exfoliates in long strips with age. A specimen tree has been reported in Missouri with a 117 cm diameter at breast height, 36.9 m tall, and a spread of 22.6 m. While typically found in low woods, bottomland, river flood plains, and streambanks along major streams and rivers, shellbark hickory can also be grown as a houseplant. It requires regular watering and does best in long-lasting, direct sunlight less than 1 foot from a window. The plant prefers soil that is good at retaining moisture and should be repotted each time it doubles in size. The genus name comes from the Greek word karya used for walnut trees, and the specific epithet means shredded in reference to the shaggy bark.