I grew up in Pennsylva... - Ask Extension
I grew up in Pennsylvania (Luzerne County) and remember as a child picking hard seeds from a fairly low growing plant which everyone called "pignuts"....
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I grew up in Pennsylva... #445579
Asked March 30, 2018, 4:04 PM EDT
I grew up in Pennsylvania (Luzerne County) and remember as a child picking hard seeds from a fairly low growing plant which everyone called "pignuts". When bruised the plant gave off a distinctive odor and as I remember the nuts/seeds were in groups of capsules of around six to eight. I've always wondered what the proper name is for this plant. Can you help?
Wake County North Carolina
Expert Response
I suspect you were looking at Carya glabra, pignut hickory, which grows here as well. Pignut hickory can grow to 70-80' tall, but it is possible to find lots of shrubby specimens in the woods. http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Edible_plants/PignutHickory/PignutHickory.html