360 OUR WOODLAND TREES. 
instance, brought here from France, and its com- 
mon name is supposed to be a corruption of 
‘Gaul nut.’ Though the Romans considered 
that the shade of the Tree was injurious both to 
mankind and to any vegetable undergrowth, it 
was very highly esteemed amongst them for its 
fruit, both for food and for medicine, and the 
name which they gave to it of Juglans, meant 
Jupiter’s nut. 
The leaves of the Walnut are large, oval, dull 
dark-green, with a reddish tinge, and rounded at 
both ends, with a’short stalk. The venation is 
very prominent, consisting of a mid-rib with alter- 
nate veinlets, given off towards the unindented 
margin; but curled upwards as they near the 
margin instead of proceeding straight to the 
edge. There is a very fragrant perfume—a 
strong lemon-scented odour—in the leaves. The 
flowers consist of two kinds—barren and fer- 
tile—borne on pendant catkins. It is a curious 
fact, that the buds or spurs which ultimately 
develope into the barren flowers protrude in the 
summer preceding their expansion from the axils 
of the leaves; but this is not the- case with the 
