WALNUT FAMILY 



For some reason the ancients thought the shade of the 

 walnut unwholesome to men and plants. It is certain that 

 neither grass, field, nor garden crops thrive well under the 

 walnut. The explanation given is that the injury comes 

 from the decaying of the fallen leaves and the washing into 

 the soil of their astringent properties ; if such is the case the 

 evil may be averted by raking them up and carrying them 

 away as soon as they fall. 



BUTTERNUT. WHITE WALNUT 



Jitglans cinerea. 



Common. Prefers rich moist lowlands, and fertile hills. Usually 

 fifty to seventy feet high, with broad, spreading, horizontal branches 

 forming a low symmetrical head. Deep perpendicular roots, with 

 a few, thick, fibrous rootlets. 



Bark. — Light grayish brown, deeply divided into broad ridges 

 which separate on the surface into small plate-like scales. Young 

 trunks and branches, smooth and light gray. Branchlets at first 

 orange brown or bright green, coated with rusty clammy hairs, be- 

 coming later light gray. Contains tannic acid. 



Wood. — Light brown ; light, soft, coarse-grained and not strong. 

 Will take a beautiful polish ; used for furniture and interior of houses. 

 Sp. gr. , 0.4086 ; weight of cu. ft., 25.46 lbs. 



Winter Buds. — Terminal buds hairy, somewhat flattened, one-half 

 to three-fourths of an inch in length. Axillary buds hairy, ovate, 

 flattened, rounded at the apex, one-eighth of an inch long, in groups 

 of three or four, almost naked. Inner scales enlarge when spring 

 growth begins. 



Leaves. — Alternate, compound, unequally pinnate, often equally 

 pinnate, fifteen to thirty inches long, hairy, with eleven to seventeen 

 leaflets. Leaflets oblong-lanceolate, three to five inches long, one 

 and a half to two inches wide, unequally rounded at base, serrate, 

 acute or acuminate, sessile or short petioled, the terminal leaf- 

 let often borne on a stalk two inches in length. They come out of 

 the bud yellow green and sticky, shining and scurfy above, hairy be- 

 low ; when full grown thin, yellow green, pale ; midribs rounded 

 above, primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn yellow. 

 Stipules wanting. Petioles downy with clammy hairs. 



Flowers. — May, when the leaves are half grown ; monoecious. 

 The catkins of staminate flowers appear in the autumn as short cone- 

 like buds covered with pale tomentum ; when mature they are from 

 three to five inches long. The perianth, subtended by an acute 



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