Hickory Trees in the Landscape The best types of hickory trees for nut production are shellbark hickory (C. laciniosa) and shagbark hickory (C. ovata). Other types of hickory trees, such as mockernut hickory (C. tomentosa) and pignut hickory (C. galabra) are fine landscape trees, but the hickory tree nuts aren’t the best quality. Pecans (C. illinoensis) are also a type of hickory, but they aren’t generally called hickory trees.