This tree grows to the height of fifty or sixty feet, and about twenty inches in diameter. It is the slowest growing of all the hickories, and hence cultivators will hardly care to wait for its growth. It bears a nut nearly six-angled, shell very thick and hard, large, heavy husks, and of a light Yandyke-brown color. The old trees are covered with a thick, rugged, hard bark; wood very tough and strong and makes excellent fuel. It probably derives its name from the difficulty one experiences in extracting the kernel from the hard, heavy shell.