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Juglandaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Carya myristiciformis

Carya myristiciformis

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
GrowthSlow

Carya myristiciformis is native to the warmer temperate regions of southern N. America. Precipitation within its range varies from 1,020 - 1,400mm per year, of which 510mm or more falls during the growing season. Summers are warm and dry in the western portion of the range, but warm and wet itowards the east. July temperatures average about 27°c, January temperatures are between 7° - 10°c with extremes of temperature ranging from minus 23°c to plus 43°c[1]. The frost-free period for most of the native range is about 240 days. Trees are said to only be hardy to zone 9[2], but there is a good specimen growing outdoors at Kew which is in zone 7[3]. Prefers a deep moisture-retentive loam in a sunny sheltered position, requiring a good summer for best development[4, 5, 3, 2]. Grows in the wild on a variety of nutrient-rich, moist but well-drained loamy, silty, or clayey soils[1]. A slow growing tree[2]. Seed production starts when the trees are about 30 years old, and optimum seed-bearing age is 50 - 125 years. Good seed crops are produced every 2 - 3 years[1]. Most species in this genus have quite a wide range of distribution and, in order to find trees more suited to specific climates, seed from the most appropriate provenances should be sought[3]. Most trees growing in Britain at present tend to only produce good seed after hot summers[3]. Trees are self-fertile but larger crops of better quality seeds are produced if cross-pollination takes place[6]. Large seed crops are produced every 2 - 3 years in the wild[6]. Plants are strongly tap-rooted and should be planted in their permanent positions as soon as possible[4, 3]. Sowing in situ would be the best method so long as the seed could be protected from mice[4, 2]. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[2].

Propagation

Seed - requires a period of cold stratification. It is best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe[7]. Stored seed should be kept moist (but not wet) prior to sowing and should be sown in a cold frame as soon as possible[7]. Where possible, sow 1 or 2 seeds only in each deep pot and thin to the best seedling. If you need to transplant the seedlings, then do this as soon as they are large enough to handle, once more using deep pots to accommodate the tap root. Put the plants into their permanent positions as soon as possible, preferably in their first summer, and give them some protection from the cold for at least the first winter[7, PFAF]. Seed can also be sown in situ so long as protection is given from mice etc and the seed is given some protection from cold[2] (a plastic bottle with the top and bottom removed and a wire mesh top fitted to keep the mice out is ideal) Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Carya+myristiciformis>

Pollinators

Wind

References

  1. [1]Silvics of North America. Agricultural Handbook No. 654. — Burns. R.M. & Honkala. B.H. · USDA Forest Service; Washington DC. · 1990 · http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/table_of_contents.htm ↩︎A very comprehensice guide to about 200 species of timber trees of N. America, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Mainly temperate species, plus a number of tropical species. It is downloadable from the Internet.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]The Plantsman. Vol. 9. 1986 - 1987. — ? · Royal Horticultural Society · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Excerpts from the periodical giving cultivation details and other notes on some of the useful plants including Carya spp and Crocus sativus.
  4. [4]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  5. [5]Nuts. — Howes. F. N. · Faber · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎Rather old but still a masterpiece. Has sections on tropical and temperate plants with edible nuts plus a section on nut plants in Britain. Very readable.
  6. [6]The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. — Elias. T. · Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. · 1980 · ISBN 0442238622 ↩︎A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.
  7. [7]Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. — Sheat. W. G. · MacMillan and Co · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.
  8. [8]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  9. [9]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  10. [10]Manual of the Trees of N. America. — Sargent. C. S. · Dover Publications Inc. New York. · 1965 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ · ISBN 0-486-20278-X ↩︎Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader. It can be downloaded from the internet.
  11. [11]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  12. [12]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  13. [13]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  14. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎