Butternut
Juglans cinerea
Juglandaceae - Walnut

Description

Leaves: Leaves dark green to yellow green; rough with sunken veins above, hairy; glands below; hairy; alternate; sticky when young; pinnately compound, large (10" to 30" long); leaflets small, 2" to 5" in length, 11-19 in number, nearly stalkless, getting gradually smaller near base; edges flatly toothed, oblong to lance-shaped, rounded; sticky hairs cover rachis and petiole; central stalk stout, hairy; deciduous.

Twigs/buds: Twigs brownish (in shades of yellow, orange, or red) to bright gray-green; hairy to hairless; thick; bitter tasting; conspicuous leaf scars - un-notched, and edged with hairy pad. Buds pale yellow, hairy; blunt-tipped; terminal buds elongated (1/2" to 1"), somewhat flattened, oblong to cone-shaped; lateral buds smaller, egg-shaped.

Flowers/fruit: Flowers monoecious; small and inconspicuous; male flowers held in long catkins; female flowers in small, erect groups of 2 to 7. Fruit green-brown (i.e. the husk); rusty-hairy and sticky; elongated, oval, oblong, or egg-shaped, and tapering; 1-1/2" to 2-1/2" in length, alone or in clusters (2-5 in number), on hanging stalk; nut cylindrical, edible, sweet, and oily; ripens early; shell deeply corrugated (ridged and furrowed) and irregular; tip is hard and sharply pointed; husk sometimes used to make yellowish-brown dye.

Bark: Light gray, whitish ridges, gray to black furrows, inner bark turns yellowish; smooth when young; ridged (ridges wide, flat, irregular, and intersecting) and grooved (shallow fissures or furrows) with age; thick; bitter tasting.

Wood: Medium importance; light brown or red-brown (sapwood white, heartwood pale brown); soft, fairly low density, coarse textured, weak, lacking in stiffness, and highly shock resistant; prized for woodworking, machines and finishes well - similar to black walnut (a substitute), but lacks strength and hardness; used for furniture, woodwork, cabinets, and paneling.

General: Native to eastern North America, from the east coast, west to Arkansas and the Dakotas. Slow growing, but reaches medium size (often 30' to 60' tall). Canopy rounded on top, wide-spreading, irregular, and open. Often with a forked, crooked trunk and wide-spreading, deep roots. Suitable for both moist and dry soils. Shade intolerant. Numbers have been severely reduced in many areas due to butternut canker.

Landscape Use: Some similarities to black walnut; it also should do well in parts of Utah. Named after the oil found in its nuts. Zones 3-7.

Characteristics

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