Ok - here are some pics. I warn you they are from my camera phone as I was walking along and have seen this tree many times and I can't wait to get an ideantity on it. The nut casing is a bit more orangish/brown than they appear. The dots seem to be very short bristles. There were crushed nuts/casings all around the base of the tree - probably by squuirrels up in the tree. Good luck and I'll be excited to find out what this tree is as its the only one around the area I can find. Thanks!
The size of the photos is part of what makes it a 'nutty' challenge. Come on people, the pics (I think its 4 and 5) with the actual nut should be recognized by someone here
Its no oak. That nut is approximately the size of a golf ball. Hickory seems a good possibility after I took a look at Google images. But I don't see those strange short bristles on hickory.
Well, if this is your first autumn with one of these *(%@#($@$() trees, I am sorry for you. These things drop one or more nuts out of each of those husks, and the %%*#@(^*@#)( nuts bury themselves in the grass, causing very rough yard and a plethora of new buckeye trees in the spring. If you really do have a buckeye and don't have ways of getting the nuts out of the yard, I would be willing to provide some of my techniques.
If you are experienced with this and have good techniques for getting the nuts out of the yard, then I would appreciate hearing them!!!
While we like the shade from our 15 year old buckeye, every fall we have been tempted to do this: to avoid the frustration the next year.