DECIDUOUS TREES. 101 
Juetans nigra. (Black Walnut.) 
Leaflets eleven to twenty-one, ovate lanceolate, slightly 
heart-shaped at the base; fruit nearly round, rough, not 
clammy ; nut furrowed, nearly black. Fig. 34 shows its 
natural size, with outside covering removed; kernel sweet, 
Fig. 34. 
with a strong flavor, much admired by some—to others it is 
quite disagreeable. It is a much more rapid-growing and 
larger tree than the Butternut. The bark on the young as 
well as old trees is dark-colored, and on large branches 
and stems very rough and deeply furrowed. Its wood is 
dark purplish brown, becoming almost black with age, 
and fine-grained, and may be highly polished; is much 
used for cabinet-work and for finishing houses. It is the 
darkest and richest colored of any of our native woods, 
and always in great demand. It does not require a very 
large tree to make a sufficient amount of lumber to bring 
a hundred dollars in New York. It is not very common 
in the Eastern States, but plentiful at the West. I have 
seen many a farm in Southern Illinois which was mainly 
fenced with black-walnut rails. It is probably not more 
than twenty years since these rails were cut, and there 
