Associated Forest Cover
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fornecido por Silvics of North America
Water hickory is a major component of two forest cover types:
Sugarberry-American Elm-Green Ash (Society of American Foresters
Type 93) and Overcup Oak-Water Hickory (Type 96). It is a minor
component in Sweetgurn-Willow Oak (Type 92) and is sometimes
found on the edge of Baldcypress (Type 101) and
Baldcypress-Tupelo (Type 102) (2).
Important associated tree species are overcup, Nuttall, and willow
oaks Quercus lyrata, Q. nuttallii and Q. phellos);
cedar and American elms (Ulmus crassifolia and U.
americana); waterlocust and honeylocust (Gleditsia
aquatica and G. triacanthos); pecan; green ash (Fraxinus
pennsylvanica); sugarberry (Celtis laevigata); persimmon
(Diospyros virginiana); red maple (Acer rubrum); and
baldcypress (Taxodium distichum).
The most frequent noncommercial trees and shrubs associated with
water hickory are hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), swamp-privet
(Forestiera acummata), roughleaf dogwood (Cornus
drummondii), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), possumhaw
(Ilex decidua), and water-elm (Planera aquatica).
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Climate
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fornecido por Silvics of North America
Water hickory grows in a warm, humid climate throughout its range.
The average annual precipitation varies from 1020 to 1520 mm (40
to 60 in). A mean rainfall of 640 mm (25 in) occurs during the
April through September growing season. The mean January
temperature is 2° to 16° C (35° to 60° F);
mean July temperature, about 27° C (80° F); and an
average frost-free period of 200 to 300 days.
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Damaging Agents
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fornecido por Silvics of North America
Water hickory is occasionally damaged by
insects. Of several borers that attack water hickory, the
living-hickory borer, Goes pulcher, is the most common
(10). Borer attacks most often occur on young trees up to 14 cm
(5.5 in) in diameter. Trunks weakened by tunnels sometimes break,
and logs formerly infested by borers are of low value. Although
this borer is widely distributed, damaging populations are rather
local. Leaf-eating insects, especially the forest tent
caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria, occasionally defoliate
trees.
Diseases are ordinarily unimportant to water hickory. Butt and
stem rots entering through wounds from fire or logging can be a
major source of cull. Heart-rot fungi tend to spread faster in
the trunks of this species than in associated oaks and other
bottom-land hardwoods (3).
The major defect of water hickory is "shake," found
especially in trees on waterlogged sites; yellow-bellied
sapsuckers also cause defects. Water hickory tends to support
more mistletoe (Phoradendron serotinum) than any of its
associated species.
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Flowering and Fruiting
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Water hickory is monoecious. Male
and female flowers appear during April and May, while the leaves
are developing. The male flowers are in stalked catkins on
branches of the current or previous year, and the female flowers
are in short spikes or stalks. The fruit, covered by a thin husk
during development, are thin-shelled, flattened, and have a
bitter seed. Nuts fall between October and December of the same
year.
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Genetics
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No races have been recorded; population and geographic variations
have not been studied except for the hybrid Carya x lecontei
Little (C. aquatica x illinoensis). This hybrid is
fairly common where the range of the two parent species overlaps
(8). One other hybrid is recognized, C. x ludoviciana (Ashe)
Little (C. aquatica x texana) (1).
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Growth and Yield
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Water hickory on a good site may reach
33.5 m (110 ft) tall and 91 cm (36 in) in diameter (6), with
about 16 in (52 ft) of merchantable bole. The tall straight trunk
is topped by slender to moderately stout ascending branches.
Diameter growth of water hickory is slow for southern species, 2
to 8 mm (0.08 to 0.31 in) per year. At 50 years, dominants might
average 35 cm (14 in) in d.b.h. on good sites and only 25 cm (10
in) on poor sites. Site index at base age 50 years ranges between
20 and 29 m (65 and 95 ft). Slow growth rates are typical of
water hickory in competition with oaks, sugarberry, gum, and
other species on good sites.
Maximum mean annual production of a pure stand (found rarely) on a
good site has been established at 10.5 m³/ha (150 ft³/acre)
(7). Maximum mean annual production on medium and poor sites was
estimated at 7.0 m³/ha (100 ft³/acre) and 3.5 m³/ha
(50 ft³/acre), respectively. An average water hickory site
might realistically yield 210 m³/ha (3,000 ft³/acre) at
maturity. Slow growth and poor sites usually keep yields low.
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Reaction to Competition
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Water hickory is classed as
intermediate in shade tolerance. Owing to its slow growth, poor
quality, and consequent low value, most silvicultural operations
are intended to favor species other than water hickory. Much "high-grade"
logging has made the species more abundant and widespread than it
would have been naturally. Water hickory responds well to
release. On better drained sites, cutting or deadening all stems
above 5 cm (2 in) in d.b.h. should relegate water hickory to a
minor position in the future stand. Many seedlings and sprouts
may emerge, but most of these are eventually overtopped by faster
growing species. In the Overcup Oak-Water Hickory cover type, any
kind of harvest will probably result in a major component of
water hickory in the future stand. Water control projects that
prolong spring flooding tend to favor water hickory.
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Rooting Habit
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Water hickory, like other hickories, grows
a taproot in the seedling stage. The wet clayey soils where water
hickory usually is found restricts the entire root system to
fairly shallow depths. The taproot eventually becomes the source
of a coarse, widespreading but shallow lateral root system. The
taproot of a 30-cm (12-in) individual, excavated on moderately
well-drained clayey soil, ended abruptly with three large lateral
roots growing out at right angles. Only a few fine roots extended
deeper than 50 cm (20 in).
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Seed Production and Dissemination
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Seed production begins
when the trees are about 20 years old, or about 20 cm (8 in) in
d.b.h. (9). Optimum seed-bearing age is from 40 to 75 years, or
after the trees reach 51 cm (20 in) in d.b.h. Heavy seed crops
are produced in most years, and a thrifty tree may produce up to
70 liters (2 bu) of seeds. There are approximately 440 cleaned
seeds per kilogram (200/lb). The seeds are disseminated by water
and animals; floodwaters are particularly important in carrying
seed to new areas.
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Seedling Development
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After seedfall in the autumn, the
seeds lie dormant until germination in late April through early
June. Rarely do they remain viable until the second spring.
Germination is hypogeal. Sometimes nearly 80 percent of the seed
crop germinates (6). As a result, thickets and clumps of water
hickory are not unusual. The species is tolerant enough to
survive in the understory for at least 15 years, but full
sunlight is necessary for development into trees (4). The
relatively slow height growth of water hickory requires that it
have near freedom from competition to establish itself in the
overstory. Because of their extended dormant season, water
hickory seedlings are able to survive late-spring floods better
than most of their would-be competitors.
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Soils and Topography
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fornecido por Silvics of North America
Water hickory attains its best growth on moist but well-drained
loamy or silty soils in the Mississippi River Valley and along
some Coastal Plain streams. However, because of its slow growth
rates, it is rare on these sites except where it has been favored
by repeated "high-grade" logging (5). Water hickory
more commonly occupies wet sites where only a few species of
hardwoods survive. It is common on clay flats, sloughs, and
backwater areas, but seldom in coastal swamps or sites where
soils are continually saturated. The species is most common on
soils in the Vertic Haplaquepts subgroup of the order
Inceptisols. Water hickory sites are subject to inundation during
heavy rains and stream overflow, as well as severe drying with
cracking of the soil during occasional dry summers.
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Vegetative Reproduction
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fornecido por Silvics of North America
Stumps less than 61 cm (24 in)
and severed roots of water hickory readily sprout. Sprouts grow
three or four times faster than seedlings during the first year
or two. Even on poorly drained clay soil, first-year sprouts
sometimes are 1.5 in (5 ft) tall. Sprouts 4.6 m (15 ft) tall at 5
years have been reported.
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Distribution
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Water hickory inhabits the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains from
southeastern Virginia to southern Florida, west into eastern
Texas, and the Mississippi Valley north to southern Illinois (5).
-The native range of Carya aquatica.
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Brief Summary
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fornecido por Silvics of North America
Juglandaceae -- Walnut family
John K. Francis
Water hickory (Carya aquatica) is a major constituent of clay
flats and backwater areas near streams and rivers of the South.
Also known as bitter pecan, the species reproduces aggressively
from both seed and sprouts. Cutting practices that suppressed
competing species have allowed it to increase in better drained
areas. Because of "shake" and smaller size, water
hickory is deemed inferior to pecan (C. illinoensis) for
sawing. Water hickory is a major component of wetland forests now
considered important in cleansing drainage waters.
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