It does have a central trunk I read.

link

you are always best off.. converting to the latin name ... which i did at the link ... and then googled images of such ...

it seems to show.. they are nothing short of forest trees ...

in whose lifetime.. is the only question ... lol ....

ken

Only one I've ever knowingly seen is in the university arboretum at Auburn. Upright central-leader growth habit like any other seedling hickory. 'Pecan hickory' would indicate that it's in the Apocarya group, with pecan, bitternut, bitter pecan, as opposed to the 'true' hickories, like shagbark, shellbark, mockernut, etc.

Most seedlings of any of the Carya species are gonna gravitate toward an upright central-leader growth habit; even pecans. When we start grafting 'old budwood' - from varieties that have proven production traits - we're using material that's already grown through the 'juvenile' phase - that's why pecan orchards, citrus groves, and apple orchards, tend to have trees with a more spreading, 'orchard-tree' habit.

Cultural practices, especially with pecans, are changing... since the commercial growers are now using tree-shakers, it's more advantageous to have more of a central-leader type of growth than the low, multi-branching form that's so common in older pecan orchards...but it takes quite a bit of 'training' type pruning to get those grafted trees to grow in a more 'juvenile' habit, with stronger central-leader habit.

Thanks y'all. I try to remember to post a picture of it after it leafs out.

Lucky, unfortunately those 'Sinking Fork' Shagbarks you sent me a few years ago didn't make it, they died back to the ground and resprouted several times, before giving up. The Shellbark you sent is doing fine though, although a slow grower. The dwarf pawpaw seeds you sent sprouted and are doing fine as well.

Everything I've read states it is most common in lowland/swampy areas. I'd expect it do best in a place similar to that. The tree does get big though. This link states it is rare, but most common in calcareous bottomlands. Nutmeg Hickory (Carya myristiciformis)