BUTTERNUT : Juglans cinerea 



WHEN grown in the open, the general appearance of the 

 Butternut somewhat resembles the Black Walnut, and is 

 frequently mistaken for that tree by persons not familiar 

 with both. The similarity is more in its leaves, however, 

 than in any other feature. It seldom forms a straight stem 

 and can rarely be seen without crooks, crotches, and bends, 

 even where crowded in the forest. It is emphatically light- 

 demanding, and to secure logs at all satisfactory for the 

 saw it must be grown in a close stand. 



It may be found more or less along streams and in rich, 

 moist soil from Maine to northern Georgia, and westward 

 to the Mississippi River. In some sections it grows on the 

 lower slopes of hills and mountains with Maple, Beech, 

 Birch, Cherry, Oak, and White Ash. Trees one hundred 

 feet high and three feet in diameter have been known, but 

 they are very rare. It seldom exceeds half these dimen- 

 sions. It is a rapid grower when young, but is much given 

 to decay when old, and cannot be considered a long-lived 

 tree. 



The wood is very light, soft, straight-grained, of a beau- 

 tiful satiny texture, and susceptible of a high finish by 

 some esteemed equal to Black Walnut. When stained, it 

 closely resembles that wood, but such treatment is little 

 short of sacrilege, for it is beautiful in its own garb. Its 

 medullary rays are inconspicuous. There is little differ- 

 ence between spring and summer wood, and it has a fine 

 grain. The heartwood is of a yellowish color, growing 

 darker on exposure, with a thin, nearly white sapwood, 

 composed of not more than six or seven annual rings. 

 It seasons well and is easily worked. It is used for furni- 

 ture and other like purposes, and also for pulp. 



The tree is not an early seed-bearer, seldom bearing 



