THE AMERICAN WALNUTS 



701 



positive 

 that of 



THE ROCK-SPLITTING BUTTERNUT 



This famous and widely-known old tree is at Devil's Den on the Gettysburg 



Battlefield. 



elongated nuts are also distinctive. The kernel is 

 sweet and has a pleasant flavor, but like that of the 

 Black Walnut, soon becomes rancid. It is more oily 

 than that of the Black Walnut, and because of this dis- 

 tinctive feature the Butternut is often called Oil 

 Nut. 



The wood of the Butternut is also a 

 means of identification. It is paler than 

 the Black Walnut, but it is in no way inferior 

 to it as an ornamental wood. The tree branches 

 freely, often forming many crooks and crotches 

 from which is obtained the highly figured wood 

 prized so highly in the furniture industry. In 

 house furnishing and finishing. Butternut wood 

 is particularly beautiful. The natural finish 

 brings out the quiet tones and the soft luster 

 of the grain in such a way as to give satisfac- 

 tion to everyone who looks at it. 



The Butternut is a rather rapid growing tree, 

 but it is not long-lived . It begins to deterior- 

 ate when it reaches medium size, and the trunks 

 of older specimens are usually hollow. Numer- 

 ous kinds of fungi attack its heartwood, which 

 accounts for many hollow-butted trees that oc- 

 cur along fences and in woodlots. While the 

 Butternut is fairly attractive and thrives well 

 in the forest, and along fences, streams and 

 roads, it cannot be depended upon for orna- 

 mental planting. 



The two Walnuts which are native to the 

 western part of the United States are the Cali- 

 fornia Walnut and the Southwestern Walnut. 

 The scientific name of the former is Juglans 

 Californica, and that of the latter is Juglans 

 rupestris. 



The California Walnut is a small tree. It 

 occasionally reaches a height of 50 feet, and is 

 limited in its distribution to the coast of Cali- 

 fornia, where it occurs from almost sea level 

 to an altitude up to 3,000 feet. Its trunk is 

 usually short, and gives off big branches which 

 curve upward and form a handsome dome-like 

 crown. The bark on large stems is rather rough 

 and blackish but on young trunks and large 

 branches it is smooth and ashy white. 



The California Walnut resembles the eastern 

 Black Walnut sufficiently to suggest to anyone 

 that it is a Walnut. Its leaves are compound, 

 with from 9 to 17 leaflets to each leaf. They 

 are light yellowish green in color, and smooth 

 on both the upper and lower surface when fully 

 grown. The fruit is spherical in outline and 

 contains a small thinly covered nut with a sweet 

 kernel. The husk is thinner than that of most 

 other species of Walnut native to North Amer- 

 ica. If the husk is removed from the hard- 

 shelled nut the two ends appear to be com- 

 pressed, which gives the nut an irregular and 

 flattened appearance at the ends. 

 The wood is rather heavy and dark brown, but 

 somewhat lighter in color than that of the eastern 

 Walnuts. It is moderately coarse grained and has 

 some commercial value. The tree, however, rarely 

 grows large enough to produce lumber in sufficient quan- 

 tities to be of much commercial value. The wood is 

 used chiefly for cabinet purposes, on account of 



CALIFORNIA WALNUT SEEDLINGS 



This fine young crop is in a Pennsylvania forest tree nursery, and consists 

 of seedlings only one year old which range from 6 to 30 inches in height. 



