Water Hickory-Pecan Hybrid Carya aquatica-illinoinensis
Water Hickory-Pecan hybrid (mid July 2020). Due to heavy growth of other trees in this area, it is no longer possible to get an unobstructed picture of this tree.
In the autumn of 2017, I threw what I thought were some Water Hickory nuts from Brazos Bend State Park into the "Seedling Patch" at the back corner of my yard. Four of them sprouted. On discovery of a couple of true Water Hickory trees in Brazos Bend in October 2020, I realized that the nuts I had collected previously were actually from a natural hybrid of a Water Hickory and a Pecan. The true Water Hickory nuts were much rougher without any speckles - see Seedling Patch page for more details. The picture below is from the summer of 2019 - this it the tallest Water Hickory-Pecan with a couple of Burr Oak seedlings growing next to it.
New growth in early March 2020 (left), and in mid March (right). This Water Hickory-Pecan seedling happened to be growing next to a Shumard Oak seedling. For some reason the tips of the new leaves were blunted.
Early May 2020, two of the four Water Hickory-Pecans were doing very well. Of the other two, one was quite small, and the other one was smaller and twisted by fungus. The pictures below show the two healthy ones. The one on the left is the tallest one and it is surrounded by three Burr Oak seedlings. The one on the right has one Nuttall Oak and two Burr Oak seedlings next to it.