Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis), also called bitternut, swamp hickory, and pignut hickory, is a large pecan hickory with commercial stands located mostly north of the other pecan hickories.
Because bitternut hickory wood is hard and durable, it is used for furniture, paneling, dowels, too] handles, and ladders. It is a choice fuel for smoking meats. Other uses include bars, crates', pallets, and flooring.
Bitternut hickory is probably the most abundant and most uniformly distributed of all the hickories. It grows throughout the eastern United States from southwestern New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and southern Quebec; west to southern Ontario, central Michigan, and northern Minnesota; south to eastern Texas; and east to northwestern Florida and Georgia. It is most common, however, from southern New England west to Iowa and from southern Michigan south to Kentucky. Range in Pennsylvania: the entire state.