Fifty Common Trees of New York 25 



16. BUTTERNUT 

 White Walnut 



(Juglans 'dnerea Linnaeus) 

 Butternut is a close kin to the black walnut though not so valuable a 

 timber tree. It produces attractive wood and edible nuts, but branches 

 freelv and seldom reaches a large size. It is common in moist soils, es- 



BUTTEKMT'T 



Leaf, one-fifth natural size ; twig, one-half natural size ; 

 fruit, one-third natural size. 



pecially along fences and roads throughout the State, but is infrequent 

 in the higher Adirondacks. The wood is light, soft, not strong, coarse- 

 grained, light brown in color, and easily worked and polished. It is used 

 for interior trim and furniture. 



Bark — smooth on young trunks and branches, light gray in color; on 

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



Twigs — stout, greenish-gray in color, often hairy, easily identified by 

 a dark-brown furry growth, or "moustache," found just above most 

 leaf scars ; chambered pith dark brown as contrasted with the light brown 

 chambered pith of the black walnut. 



Winter duds — terminal bud pale, downy, blunt-pointed, from % to % 

 inch long, flattened, longer than wide; lateral buds smaller and shorter. 



Leaves — alternate, compound, with from 11 to 17 practically stemless 

 long-pointed leaflets, margins serrate as in black walnut ; leaves up to 

 2^ feet in length. 



Fruit— a rather large nut, 1% inches long, tapering at the end, black 

 with fine cut ridges, enclosed in a sticky, gr^en husk usually in clusters 

 of from 3 to 5, ripening in October of the first season. Kernel — sweet, 

 oily, but somewhat difficult to extract, much sought after in the autumn. 

 The butternut has the advantage of curing without removing the outer 

 husk. 



