﻿Trees of New York State 141 



JUGLANDACEAE 



Juglaiis cinera L. 



Butternut, White Walnut 



Habit — Usually a medium sized tree 30-50 feet in height, -with a short, stout 

 trunk 1-2 feet in diameter which divides 15-20 feet above the ground 

 into several stout, horizontally-spreading limbs. Crown broad, unsym- 

 metrieal, round-topped and rather open. Under optimum conditions the 

 tree may attain a height of 100 feet with a tall, stout, straight bole which 

 is free of branches for half its length. 



Leaves — Alternate, odd-pinnately compound, 15-30 inches long, consisting of 

 11-17 sessile or nearly sessile leaflets arranged in pairs along a stout, 

 pubescent petiole, the terminal leaflet long-stalked. Leaflets oblong- 

 lanceolate, 3-4: inches long, 1^/2-2 inches ■\\'ide, acute or acuminate at the 

 iil>ex, inequilateral and rounded at the base, finely serrate except at the 

 base, at maturity thin, yelloAAdsh green and rugose above, pale and soft 

 pubescent beneath. 



Flowers — Appearing in May or early June when the leaves are about half 

 grown, monoecious, the staminate in stout, unbranched, elongated aments 

 on the gro^\i:h of the preceding season, the pistillate in terminal, 6-8- 

 flowered spikes capping the growth of the season, the two sorts proximal. 

 Staminate flowers about % of an inch long, epaulet-shaped, consisting of 

 a rusty-pubescent, acute bract bearing adaxially a 6-lobed, light yellowish 

 green perianth subtending 8-12 nearly sessile stamens. Anthers dark 

 bro\^^l. Pistillate flowers about % of an inch long, sessile, consisting of 

 an inferior, 1-celled ovary surmounted by a short style and 2 clavate, 

 spreading, bright red stigmas nearly half an inch in length. The ovary is 

 closely invested by glandular, coherent bracts and the calyx. 



Fruit — An ovoid or ellipsoid, 4-ridged, sculptured nut, abruptly acute at the 

 apex, 1-celled above, 2-celled at the base, covered by a glandular, hairy, 

 indehiscent, fleshy, green husk. 



Winter characters — Twigs stout, lenticellate, greenish gray to reddish buff 

 and lustrous the first A^dnter, turning reddish or orange-brown the second 

 season, at length gray. Pith dark brown, diaphragmed. Leaf-scars ele- 

 vated, obcordate, hairy fringed on the upper margin, with 3 equidistant 

 U-shaped clusters of bundle-scars. Terminal buds truncate, V2-% of an 

 inch long, the outer scales lobed. Lateral buds smaller, ovate, blunt, often 

 superposed. Staminate catkins preformed the preceding season, appear- 

 ing as scaly, cone-like, lateral buds. Matui-e bark light gray, %-l inch 

 thick, divided by deep fissures into broad ridges scaly on the surface. 



Habitat — Prefers rich, moist soils. Frequent along fences and roads, stream 

 courses, in pastures and low moist woods, or on rocky hills. 



Range — New Brunswick and Quebec through Ontario, Maine to Minnesota, 

 south to Delaware, northern Georgia, and northeastern Arkansas. Com- 

 mon in the lowland forests of the northeast, rare south of the Ohio basin. 

 Zones A, B, and C. 



Uses — Not an important timber species. Wood bght, soft, weak, rather 

 coarse-gi-ained, easily worked and polished, light bro\ra darkening vath 

 exposure, with thin,*^ light sapwood. Used occasionally for interior and 

 cabinet work. The oily and nutritious nuts could no doubt be greatly 

 improved by selection. 'The bark and husk of the nuts contain a yellow 

 dye. 



