''Carya floridana'' (syn. ''Hicoria floridana'') the scrub hickory, is a tree native to the

Southeast United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

, where it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

in central

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Although it can grow to the height of 25 m (80 ft), many specimens are seen as shrubs 3–5 m tall with many small trunks. The leaves are 20–30 cm long, pinnate, with three to seven leaflets, each leaflet 4–10 cm long and 2–4 cm broad, with a coarsely toothed margin. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...

3–4 cm long and 2-2.5 cm diameter, with a thick, hard shell and a sweet, edible

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

. It is geographically separated from the similar black hickory (''

Carya texana ''Carya texana'', or black hickory, for its dark colored bark, is a North American tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae. It is endemic to the United States, found primarily in the southern Great Plains and the Lower Mississippi Valley. It is ...

''). The scrub hickory intergrades with the pignut hickory (''Carya glabra'') where ranges overlap. The seeds require

stratification Stratification may refer to: Mathematics * Stratification (mathematics), any consistent assignment of numbers to predicate symbols * Data stratification in statistics Earth sciences * Stable and unstable stratification * Stratification, or st ...

to germinate.

Genetics

Scrub hickory is a 64-chromosome species.

References

External links

Plants for a Future: ''Carya floridana''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5047667 floridana Trees of the Southeastern United States