398 NKW ENGLAND TREES IN" "WINTER. 



BUTTERNUT 



Oilnut, White Walnut. 

 Juglans cinerea L. 



HABIT — A small to Tnedium-sized tree 20-45 ft. in height, with 

 trunk diameter of 1-4 ft.; coinparatively large for the height; soon 

 dividing into a few stout spreading- branches with lower branches 

 somewhat drooping forming a symmetrieal, broad, low, round-topped 

 head of inversely pyramidal outline. 



BARK — On young trunks and branches smooth, light gray, on older 

 trunks deeply divided into long, rather broad, flat-topped, whitish ridges 

 separated by smooth ish. broader fissures. "U'hich are likewise gray or 

 frequently become black in striking contrast to the whitish ridges; inner 

 bark becoming yellow on exposure to air, bitter. 



TAVIGS — Stout, reddish-buff to greenish-gray, do'wny or nearly smooth, 

 round or somewliat angled from lobes of leaf- scars, bitter to taste, 

 and coloring saliva j^ellow when chewed. LENTICELS — small, pale, 

 raised dots. PITH — somewhat 5-pointed. star-shaped, dark brown, 

 chambered, the narrow chambers a little wider than the intervening 

 diaphragms. 



liEAF-SCARS — Large, conspicuous, 3-lobed, inversely triangular; mar- 

 gins elevated, upper margin generally convex seldom slightly notched, 

 surmounted by a raised, downy pad. B"QNDLiE-SCARS — dark, conspicu- 

 ous in 3 U-shaped clusters. 



BIDS — Densely pale-downy; terminal buds large, conical-oblong, 10- 

 20 mm. long, longer than broad, flattened oblrmg to conical, obliquely 

 blunt-pointed; lateral buds smaller, ovate, rounded at apex, 1-3 super- 

 posed buds generally present above axillary bud, the uppermost the 

 largest, often far above the leaf-scar and more or less stalked or 

 developing into a t"wig the first season, especially on rapidly grown 

 shoots; siaminate flower buds lateral, rather spherical, protruding the 

 undeveloped catkins like miniature scaly cones from the envelope of 

 short scales. BUL>-SCALES — thick, outer scales of terminal bud lobed 

 at apex. 



FRUIT — Elongated, 4-10 cm. long, husk thickly covered with sticky 

 hairs, not regularly splitting. NUT — light brown, elongated-ovate, 4- 

 rlbbed, pointed, rough, deeply sculptured; within, 2-celled at base, 1- 

 celled abo\'e; seed s%veet. edible, very oily, soon becoming rancid. 



COMI'ARISONS — In twig characters the Butternut most nearly re- 

 sembles the Black Walnut but is easily distinguished from this species 

 (see Cnmparisons under Black Walnut). Its points of dissimilarity to 

 the Bitternut are given under this latter species. 



DISTRIBl'TIOX — Roadsides, rich woods, river valleys, fertile, moist 

 hillsides, high up on mountain slopes. New Brunswick, throughout 

 Quebec and eastern Ontario; south to Delaware, along the mountains 

 to Georgia and Alabama; west to Minnesota, Kansas, and Arkansas. 



IN NEW ENGLAND — Maine, common, often abundant; New Hamp- 

 shire — throughout the Connecticut valley, and along the Merrimac and 

 its tributaries, to the base of the White Mountains; Vermont— frequent ; 

 Massachusetts — connmon in the eastern and central portions, frequent 

 westward: Rhode Island — common. 



IN CONNECTICUT— Frequent. 



■\VOOD — Light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, light brown, turning 

 darker with exposure, with thin, light-colored sapwood, composed of 5 

 or 6 layers of annual growth; largely employed in the interior finish 

 of houses and for furniture. The inner bark possesses mild cathartic 

 properties. Sugar is made from the sap and the green husks of the 

 fruit are used to dye cloth yellow or orange color. 



