Hican

Last updated

A hican is a tree resulting from a cross between a pecan and some other type of hickory (members of the genus Carya ) - or the nut from such a hybrid tree.

Contents

Such crosses often occur naturally while most such hybrids produce unfilled nuts or have other serious flaws. Some have desirable qualities from both species and are propagated commercially for nut production. Their properties vary greatly with the particular ancestral species of hickory. Some produce very desirable nuts with a flavor said to be similar to the better types of hickory nuts (not all hickories produce palatable nuts) but far easier to shell. [1]

Varieties

An older hican variety, 'James' (C. illinoiensis X C. laciniosa), from Missouri, was propagated and sold by a national nursery, giving it wide distribution. Unfortunately, it has been an erratic producer in most locations. One of the best-tasting hican nuts is the 'Burton', which is round and thin in shape. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Juglans</i> Genus of trees

Walnut trees are any species of tree in the plant genus Juglans, the type genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are referred to as walnuts. All species are deciduous trees, 10–40 metres (33–131 ft) tall, with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres (7.9–35.4 in), with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts (Pterocarya), but not the hickories (Carya) in the same family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pecan</span> Species of hickory native to the southern USA and northern Mexico

The pecan is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nut (fruit)</span> In botany, type of dry indehiscent fruit

A nut is a fruit consisting of a hard or tough nutshell protecting a kernel which is usually edible. In general usage and in a culinary sense, a wide variety of dry seeds are called nuts, but in a botanical context "nut" implies that the shell does not open to release the seed (indehiscent).

<i>Macadamia</i> Genus of plants indigenous to Australia

Macadamia is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia, native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Two species of the genus are commercially important for their fruit, the macadamia nut. Global production in 2015 was 160,000 tonnes. Other names include Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, bauple nut and, in the US, they are also known as Hawaii nut. It was an important source of bushfood for the Aboriginal peoples who are the original inhabitants of the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hickory</span> Genus of trees

Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus Carya, which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexico, and two to four are native to Canada. A number of hickory species are used for their edible nuts, lumber or other wood and woodcraft products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazel</span> Genus of trees

Hazels are plants of the genus Corylus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae. The fruit of the hazel is the hazelnut.

<i>Corylus avellana</i> Species of tree (common hazel)

Corylus avellana, the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were, historically, used as property and field boundaries in lowland England. The wood was traditionally grown as coppice, with the poles cut being used for wattle-and-daub building, and agricultural fencing.

<i>Juglans nigra</i> Species of tree

Juglans nigra, the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern Florida and southwest to central Texas. Wild trees in the upper Ottawa Valley may be an isolated native population or may have derived from planted trees.

<i>Carya ovata</i> Species of tree

Carya ovata, the shagbark hickory, is a common hickory in the Eastern United States and southeast Canada. It is a large, deciduous tree, growing well over 100 ft (30 m) tall, and can live more than 350 years. The tallest measured shagbark, located in Savage Gulf, Tennessee, is over 150 ft (46 m) tall. Mature shagbarks are easy to recognize because, as their name implies, they have shaggy bark. This characteristic is, however, only found on mature trees; young specimens have smooth bark.

<i>Canarium ovatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Canarium ovatum, the pili, is a species of tropical tree belonging to the genus Canarium. It is one of approximately 600 species in the family Burseraceae. C. ovatum are native to the Philippines. They are commercially cultivated in the Philippines for their edible nuts and is believed to be indigenous to that country. The fruit and tree are often vulgarized with the umbrella term of "Java almond" which mixes multiple species of the same genus, Canarium.

<i>Carya cordiformis</i> Species of tree

Carya cordiformis, the bitternut hickory, also called bitternut, yellowbud hickory, or swamp hickory, is a large pecan hickory with commercial stands located mostly north of the other pecan hickories. Bitternut hickory is cut and sold in mixture with the true hickories. It is the shortest-lived of the hickories, living to about 200 years.

<i>Carya floridana</i> Species of tree

Carya floridana the scrub hickory, is a small tree native to the Southeast United States, where it is endemic to central Florida.

<i>Carya glabra</i> Species of tree

Carya glabra, the pignut hickory, is a common, but not abundant species of hickory in the oak-hickory forest association in the Eastern United States and Canada. Other common names are pignut, sweet pignut, coast pignut hickory, smoothbark hickory, swamp hickory, and broom hickory. The pear-shaped nut ripens in September and October, has a sweet maple like smell, and is an important part of the diet of many wild animals. The wood is used for a variety of products, including fuel for home heating. Its leaves turn yellow in the Fall.

<i>Carya laciniosa</i> Species of tree

Carya laciniosa, the shellbark hickory, in the Juglandaceae or walnut family is also called kingnut, big, bottom, thick, or western shellbark, attesting to some of its characteristics. It is a slow-growing, long-lived tree, hard to transplant because of its long taproot, and subject to insect damage. The nuts, largest of all hickory nuts, are sweet and edible. Wildlife and people harvest most of them; those remaining produce seedling trees readily. The wood is hard, heavy, strong, and very flexible, making it a favored wood for tool handles. A specimen tree has been reported in Missouri with 117 cm (46 in) diameter at breast height, 36.9 m tall, and a spread of 22.6 m.

<i>Carya tomentosa</i> Species of hickory tree

Carya tomentosa, commonly known as mockernut hickory, mockernut, white hickory, whiteheart hickory, hognut, bullnut, is a species of tree in the walnut family Juglandaceae. The most abundant of the hickories, and common in the eastern half of the United States, it is long lived, sometimes reaching the age of 500 years. A straight-growing hickory, a high percentage of its wood is used for products where strength, hardness, and flexibility are needed. The wood makes excellent fuel wood, as well. The leaves turn yellow in Autumn.

<i>Carya aquatica</i> Species of tree

Carya aquatica, the bitter pecan or water hickory, is a large tree, that can grow over 30 metres (98 ft) tall of the Juglandaceae or walnut family. In the American South it is a dominant plant species found on clay flats and backwater areas near streams and rivers. The species reproduces aggressively both by seed and sprouts from roots and from stumps of cut trees. Water hickory is a major component of wetland forests now in the south eastern US, because of the selective cutting of more desirable tree species for the lumber industry. It is considered important in cleansing drainage waters since the plants slow water flow during flooding, allowing sediments to fall out of the water column. This tree species is tolerant of wet soils but grows best on well draining soils near rivers and other water ways.

Burton is a cultivar of hican, a cross between hickory and pecan, species of the genus Carya. Burton nuts have a unique, yet very pleasing hickory flavor indicative of hickory trees. Hickory-pecan hybrids are often unproductive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Propagation of grapevines</span>

The propagation of grapevines is an important consideration in commercial viticulture and winemaking. Grapevines, most of which belong to the Vitis vinifera family, produce one crop of fruit each growing season with a limited life span for individual vines. While some centenarian old vine examples of grape varieties exist, most grapevines are between the ages of 10 and 30 years. As vineyard owners seek to replant their vines, a number of techniques are available which may include planting a new cutting that has been selected by either clonal or mass (massal) selection. Vines can also be propagated by grafting a new plant vine upon existing rootstock or by layering one of the canes of an existing vine into the ground next to the vine and severing the connection when the new vine develops its own root system.

Kanuchi is a hickory nut soup eaten originally by the Cherokee people and which consists primarily of ground hickory nuts boiled in water. Hickory was the nut of choice, since it is a nut tree endemic to North America, and is known to grow plentifully in those forested areas settled by the Cherokee.

References

  1. "Hican". Archived from the original on 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  2. "Hican nuts" . Retrieved 2009-03-02.