THE AMERICAN WALNUTS 



BY JOSEPH S. ILLICK 



'X'HERE are fifteen different kinds of Walnut trees in 

 -* the world. Four of them are native to the United 

 States. The Black Walnut and the Butternut are found 

 in the eastern United States. The scientific name of the 

 Black Walnut is Juglans nigra, and that of the Butternut 

 is Juglans cincrea. A third species, known as California 

 Walnut, occurs in California and the Southwestern Wal- 

 nut is found in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. 



The nearest relatives of the Walnuts are the Hickories. 

 These two important groups of timber-producing trees 



BARK OF THE BLACK WALNUT 



The adjective black refers to the color of the wood and the bark, 

 which ranges from a rich brown to black. 



belong to the same tree family, and may be distinguished 

 from each other by the following characteristics : 



WALNUTS 

 (1) Pith of twigs is chambered. 

 (2) Nuts are rough and sculptured. 



(3) Husk of fruit does not split. 



(4) Tassels of pollen-bearing flow- 

 ers are thick, compact, not 

 stalked, and occur singly. 



(5) Wood is light to dark-brown. 

 Pores are scattered rather even- 

 ly throughout the growth ring. 



HICKORIES 



(1) Pith of twigs is continuous, not 

 chambered. 



(2) Nuts are smooth and usually 

 ridged. 



(3) Husk of fruit usually splits 

 into 4 valves. 



(4) Tassels of pollen-bearing flow- 

 ers are slender, flexible, stalked 

 and occur in three's. 



(5) Wood is white to reddish-brown. 

 I*ores range from large to small; 

 large pores ()ccur in concentric 

 rings in spring wood, while 

 small ones are distributed irreg- 

 ularly in the summer wood. 



The Black Walnut is unquestionably the best-known 

 member of the Walnut family. It is more fortunate than 



most of its associates in that it has only a few common 

 names. Throughout its entire range of 650,000 square 

 miles, it is called Walnut, Black Walnut or Walnut-Tree. 

 Rarely, if ever, is any other common name applied to this 

 tree in its entire range. The adjective black refers to 

 the color of the wood and the bark. This distinctive 

 characteristic enables one to recognize it easily from all 

 other closely-related trees. 



The Black Walnut bears little resemblance to any other 

 forest tree native to the eastern United States, except the 

 Butternut. These two trees may be distinguished from 

 all other forest trees by their rough and sculptured nuts 

 covered with an unsplitting husk, and by their cham- 

 bered or interrupted pith. Only a few other trees na- 

 tive to North America have a chambered pith, and the 

 fact that the Walnuts have a brown and chambered pith 

 is one of the best distinguishing characteristics found in 

 any American forest tree. This helpful distinguishing 

 characteristic may be observed by cutting a twig length- 

 wise and examining the pith, which is always located at 

 or near the center. 



The Butternut, also called White Walnut, may be dis- 

 tinguished from the Black Walnut by the following 

 characteristics : 



BLACK WALNUT 



(1) 13 to 23 leaflets to each leaf. 



(2) Bark is dark brown to black. 



(3) Pith is light brown, 

 f4) Nut is round. 



ih) Husk of fruit is smooth. 



(6) Terminal bud is .is broad as 

 long. 



(7) No hairy fringe occurs above 

 leaf-scars. 



BUTTERNUT 



(1) H to 17 leaflets to each leaf. 



(2) Bark is gray_ 



(3) Pith is dark brown. 



(4) Nut is elongated. 



(5) Husk of fruit is hairy and 

 sticky. 



(6) Terminal bud is longer than 

 broad. 



(7) Hairy fringe present above leaf- 

 scars. 



:^.^^ 





BLACK WALNUTS, WITH AND WITHOUT THE HULL 



The black walnut, a favorite because of its sweet, rich fruit, u 

 readily identified in either one dress or the other. 



