of New York 



51 



BUTTERNUT 



Juglans cinerea, Linnaeus 



THE BUTTERNUT, also called White Walnut, is close-kin 

 of the Black Walnut. 



The leaves are alternate, compound, with 13 to 23 leaflets. 



The flowers are of two kinds. The pollen-bearing occur 

 in unbranched drooping clusters. The nut-producing occur 

 in few-flowered clus- 

 ters on new growth. 



The fruit is an 

 elongated nut with a 

 hairy, sticky, non- 

 splitting husk. The 

 nut is 4 - ribbed, 

 pointed at one end, 

 s h a r p 1 y furrowed 

 over entire surface, 

 and contains a sweet, 

 oily edible kernel. 



The bark is gray 

 to ashy-white, sepa- 

 rates into wide flat 

 ridges. The twigs 

 are stout, greenish 

 gray, often downy, 

 contain dark - brown 

 chambered pith. The 

 buds are covered with 

 dense pale down. 

 Terminal bud is Yi 

 to Yi, of an inch 

 long, flattened, blunt- 

 pointed, longer than 

 wide. Lateral flower buds are pineapple-like, often placed 

 one above another. 



BUTTERNUT 



One-fourth natural size, except 3 and 4 which are 



enlarged and 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12 natural size. 



The wood is soft, not strong, light-brown. Used in 

 furniture, interior finishing, and chests. 



The Butternut is found from New Brunswick to Minne- 

 sota, south to Delaware and Arkansas and along mountains 

 to Georgia. This tree is common locally across New York, 

 but remains below 1,500 feet in the Adirondacks. It pre- 

 fers rich, moist, calcareous soil, is most frequently met along 

 streams, fences, and roads, and rarely exceeds 50 feet in height 

 and 2 feet in diameter. 



