Hicoria Rafinesque, nom. rej.

Trees deciduous, monoecious. Branchlets with solid pith. Terminal buds naked or with false-valved scales (or overlapping). Leaves odd-pinnate; leaflets 3-17, margin serrate. Inflorescences lateral or terminal on old or new growth; male and female inflorescences separate: male spikes in clusters of 3, lateral at base of new growth or rarely on old growth, pendulous; female spike terminal on new growth, erect. Flowers anemophilous. Male flowers with an entire bract; bracteoles 2; sepals usually absent; stamens (2 or)3-7(-10), anthers pubescent or rarely glabrous. Female flowers with an entire bract adnate to ovary; bracteoles 3, adnate to ovary; sepals absent; style absent; stigmas commissural, stigmatic disc 4-lobed. Fruiting spike erect. Fruit a drupelike nut with a thick, 4-valved husk covering a smooth or wrinkled shell 2-4-chambered at base. Germination hypogeal.

About 17 species: E Asia, North America; five species (three endemic, one introduced) in China.