North Carolina Shagbark Tree
The North Carolina Shagbark (H. Carolinae-septentrionalis, Ashe) differs from the preceding species in its smaller size and slenderer habit throughout. The twigs are dark red and slender and the leaflets are small, lanceolate, with long, tapering points. The buds are scarcely 1/4 inch long, thin inner scales lengthening to t to 2 inches and becoming bright yellow as they unfold. The little nuts have thin shells and the kernels are sweet. The bark of this tree is much like its more burly cousins. The strips are equally tough and persistent, but not quite so large.The range of this shagbark covers the limestone uplands of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, and extends south along river bottoms into Georgia and central Alabama.