Oilnut (aka Yellow Bud Hickory or Bitternut)

This tree is just waiting for an opportunity to show us what it can do.

It's a smoother barked hickory, with 7-9 leaflets on leaves that turn a glorious hickory golden in the fall. They drop an annual abundance of thin-shelled, oil-rich nuts with lovely hickory flavor. The only catch is that they are also very tannic and bitter! 

So why plant them?

Two reasons...

1. First, wildlife love them! The thin-shelled, oil-rich nuts are sought after by not only squirrels and chipmunks but also deer and bear and other critters that can't crack normal hickory nuts. 
   
   
2. The second reason is that they can be pressed into a highly flavored, sweet oil, since the bitter tannin is not oil-soluble. With the right infrastructure, we could produce a lot of perennially, regeneratively grown edible oil right here here in North America from our own native hickory trees! 
   
   

Who's ready to start a new permaculture crop? Plant oil nuts!

We use seeds from a mother tree with exceptionally large nuts.

Plant at least two trees for heavier yields.

1 year-old seedling bare root plants approx. 4-6" tall

*Ship in spring and fall

Hardiness zone: 4+

Mature height: 60-80 ft.

Begin bearing in 10-15 years.