LXVII. JUGLANDA^CE^E : 7U\5LANS. 733 



to 60 ft. Tn cultivation in England since 1562, and probably long before. 

 Flowers greenish; April and May. Fruit with a green husk, enclosing 

 a brown nut ; ripe in September. Decaying leaves brown. 



Varieties. 



3t J. r. 2 maxima. JVux Juglans fructu maximo Bauh. Pin. 417. ; Noix 

 de Jauge Bon Jard. ed. 1836 p. 473. ; Clawnut in Kent, Bannut in 

 Warwickshire. This variety has the fruit double the size of that 

 of the species, being sometimes nearly as large as a turkey's egg ; but, 

 in drying, the kernel shrinks to one half its size ; and, hence, the fruit 

 of this variety is not good for keeping, but ought to be eaten directly 

 after being gathered. The leaves are large, and the tree has a mag- 

 nificent appearance ; but its timber is not nearly so durable as that 

 of the common walnut. 



J. r. 3 tenera. Nux Juglans fructu tenero et fragile putamine Bauh. 

 Pin. 417.; Noyer a Coque tendre, Noyer Mesange Bon Jardinier, 

 \. c., Noyer de Mars in Dauphine ; the thin-shelled, or Titmouse, 

 Walnut. (See Hort. Trans., vol. iv. p. 517.; and E. of Gard., ed. 

 1834, p. 942.) The last name is given to this kind of walnut, 

 because its shell is so tender, that the birds of the titmouse family 

 (mesange, Fr.) (Parus major L. ; P. cseruleus L. ; and also P. 

 ater and P. palustris L.) pierce it with their bills, and eat the kernel, 

 leaving the remaining part of the fruit on the tree. This variety has 

 the most delicate fruit of all the walnuts : it keeps longer, and pro- 

 duces more oil ; but it is not so good a bearer as the other sorts. 



J. r. 4 serotina Desf. Nux. Juglans fructu serotino Bauh. Pin. 417.; 

 Noyer tardif, Noyer de la Saint- Jean Bon Jard. ed. 1836 p. 472., 

 Noyer de Mai in Dauphine. This is a most valuable variety for 

 those districts where the frosts continue late in spring. 



* J. r. 5 lacinidta. jVux Juglans foliis laciniatis Reneaulm, N. Du Ham. 

 iv. p. 174. ; Juglans heterophylla Hort. ; J./ilicifolia Lodd. Cat. ed. 

 1836 ; the Fern-leaved Walnut Tree. Has cut leaves, somewhat 

 like those of .Fraxinus excelsior salicifolia. 



Other Varieties. The above are the most remarkable and valuable of the 

 varieties of the common walnut; the first three, on account of their fruit; 

 and the last, as a curiosity, on account of its leaves. But in the Bon Jar- 

 dinier five others are enumerated ; and in the Horticultural Society's Fruit 

 Catalogue for 1832 nine are given, of which the most valuable for cultivation 

 for its fruit is the Highflier ; a variety which was originated at Thetford, in 

 Norfolk, and which is held in much esteem in that county and in Suffolk. 

 (Hort. Trans., iv. p. 517. ; and E. of Gard., ed. 1835, p. 942") There is also 

 the Yorkshire walnut, which is much planted in that county. The varieties 

 recommended by Mr. Thompson, as having proved the most prolific in the 

 Horticultural Society's Garden, are : the Round early oval ; the Double large 

 French, No. 1. above ; the Tender- shelled, No. 2.; and the Thick-shelled. 

 In the gardens of the Trianon, near Paris, there is a hybrid between Ju- 

 glans regia and J. nigra, which partakes in an equal degree of the properties 

 of both species, and has ripened fruit from which young plants have been 

 raised possessing similar properties. (See Gard. Mag., vol. xvi.) 



The wood of the walnut weighs 58 Ib. 8 oz. in a green state ; and when 

 dried, 46 Ib. 8 oz. It is white in young trees, and in that state is subject to be 

 wormeaten ; but, as the tree grows old, the wood becomes solid, compact, 

 easy to work, and acquires a brown colour, veined, and agreeably shaded with 

 light brown and black. The most valuable part of the walnut is its fruit, which 

 is much in demand throughout Europe and other parts of the world, for the 

 table, and for various other purposes. In a young and green state, it is pickled 

 and preserved ; and, when mature, it is used as food for the poorer classes in 

 the countries where it abounds, and at the dessert of the richer classes. An oil 

 is expressed from the kernel in some parts of France. Switzerland, and Italy. 



