Big tall nut tree…but what nut??? 😊

[Ellizabeth]

Hello

Not sure if I have enough info or took enough pictures but hoping someone can help.

I have this very large, tall tree in my yard. It looks to be some type of nut tree. Looks like clusters of green pods on the tree and I’m starting to find the brown nuts on the ground. Curious if I can eat them

I’m on the South Shore off Long Island in NY.

Thank you for any help!!
Liz

 

[dickiebird]

Looks like a hickory tree.
I have never tried to eat the nuts, but squirrels love them.

THANX RICH

 

[baymule]

A type of hickory tree. Get a hammer, 22 oz waffle headed hammer and smack those nuts. Hard to pick out but tasty. If you BBQ, get your bed of coals and lay a couple of green hickory twigs, minus the leaves, on the coals.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Hickory nuts are a bit variable in quality, depending on species. Some are tasty (the definitive tasty one being Carya illionensis, the pecan) Others not so much (there is a reason one of them is called bitternut)

This is supposed to give you a clue as to which nut you have

Shellbark is considered to be the tastiest on the non-pecan ones.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Cut tree. Dry wood. Brine pork. Cook BBQ on hickory coals and achieve nirvana.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree, that is some type of hickory. How good it will taste I don't know. I grew up smashing them with a hammer on an anvil and picking the meat out with one of Mom's hair pins. That takes work to get much but that type of hickories were very good. Now I do not use a hammer. I put them in a vise to crack them open. It's more controlled, I don't smash my fingers nearly as much, and the nuts don't go flying all over.

I'll include this comment to show that it's a lot more than just rodents like squirrels.

While hickory nuts are not poisonous to dogs, they can cause laminitis if consumed by horses. Squirrels, ducks, chickens, deer, and turkey love to eat hickory nuts

You don't have to cut the whole tree down and destroy what I consider a pretty valuable tree if it is growing in a good spot to get wood to grill or smoke. On a tree that big just cut a branch. That should give you a lot of wood. While I agree that hickory is good for smoking and grilling, I actually prefer apple wood. I get plenty of apple wood when I prune my apple trees in the fall.