One of the largest nuts native to the United States is the `McCallister’ hican found in 1890 in southern Indiana.
A natural hybrid between a pecan and shellbark hickory, the `McCallister,’ like other hicans, is propagated by grafting on pecan or hickory seedlings.
Hican (pronounced HICK-an) trees have been found in nine states (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma), where pecans and hickories grow nearby.
Landscaping Purposes
Pecans have been known to cross with the small shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) and the bitternut hickory (C. cordiformis) as well as the large river-bottom or shellbark hickory (C. laciniosa).
Pecan x shagbark hybrids such as `Burton,’ Pixley’ and ‘Henke’ ripen their nuts earlier than pecans, and they will mature farther north than northern varieties of pecan.
Hican trees make beautiful large shade trees for landscaping and grow faster than either the pecan or hickory parent.
The fastest growing hican is the ‘Pleas,’ which is part bitternut. Its nut is edible but not as sweet as the shagbark and shellbark hybrids.
44659 by Clarice Hichox