The Butternut. 187 



THE B UTTERNUT . 



Juslans cathartica. 



This species of walnut is 

 known in the United States, 

 under different denominations. 

 In Massachusetts, New Hamp- 

 shire and Vermont, it bears 

 the name of Oil JVut; in Penn- 

 sylvania and Maryland and on 

 the banks of the Ohio, it is 

 generally known by that of 

 White JValnut •,'m Connecticut, 

 New York, New Jersey, Vir- 

 ginia, and the mountainous dis- 

 tricts of the upper parts of the 

 Carolinas, it is called Butternut. 

 The last of these names we 

 have adopted, because it is 

 most generally used. This 

 tree is found in the Canadas, 

 Fig. 1. A leaflet. Fig. 2. A nut with its husk, in all of the New England 



States, New York, New Jer- 

 sey, Kentucky, Tennessee and on the banks of the Missouri, and in 

 the bottoms which border on the Ohio. It flourishes most abun- 

 dantly in a cold unproductive soil, interspersed with large rocks, 

 and on the steep, elevated banks of rivers. 



In favorable situations this tree grows to the height of fifty or 

 sixty feet with a circumference of ten or twelve feet, five feet from 

 the ground. Its roots extend even with the surface of the earth, 

 in a serpentine direction, and with little variation in size, to the 

 distance of forty feet. The trunk ramifies at a small height, and 

 the branches, seeking a direction more horizontal than those of 

 other trees, and spreading widely, form a large and tufted head, 

 which gives the tree a remarkable appearance. The bark of tl>e 

 secondary branches is smooth and grayish. The buds, like those 

 of the black Avalnut, are uncovered. In spring its vegetation is 

 forward, and its leaves unfold a fortnight earlier than those of the 

 hickories. Each leaf is composed of seven or eight pair of 

 sessile leaflets, and terminated by a petiolated odd one. The 

 leaflets are from two to three inches in length, lanceolate, serrate 

 and slightly downy. The barren flowers stand on large cylindri- 

 cal aments, which are single, four or five inches long, and attach- 



