2IO 
FLORA AND SYLVA 
for many parts of our country. Having 
already fully dealt with it from every 
point of interest, we need now only 
refer our readers to page 163 of our 
second volume. 
THE GREATER TREES OF THE | 
NORTHERN FOREST.— No. 29. 
THE BLACK WALNUT (Juglans \ 
itigrci). j 
From its size, rapidity of growth, beauty , ' 
and the excellence of its wood and its 
fruits, there is perhaps no more valuable 
tree in the forests of North America. 
In rich woods where the soil is moist ' 
it reaches a height of 150 feet, with a 
girth of 20 feet at 4 feet from the ground, i 
True, such immense trunks are rare and, | 
being much in demand for their timber, 
it is now only in distant and unsettled 
parts of the country that such giants 
can be found. The leaves are 12 to 18 
inches long, of a pleasant green, and 
fragrant when bruised, as are also the 
green fruits which appear at the ends 
of the young shoots. These nuts are 
round and covered with a thick husk 
which,though at first green, turns slowly 
to a deep brown and furnishes an almost 
indelibledye. The kernels areindemand 
for dessert and for confectionery of 
many kinds, while the unripe nuts are 
made, while small and tender, into a 
catsup much used for flavouring. 1 
For landscape planting the i 
Black Walnut is one of the I 
most beautiful of trees. At its best it 
forms a grand head and becomes only 
more picturesque in extreme age, while 
owing to its light foliage and open crown 
grass thrives right up to its base.' It is 
therefore well adapted for planting in 
In the 
Landscape. 
parks. It has been said that from some 
injurious influence of its roots and 
leaves other plants will not thrive in 
its shade, but I have found little to 
justify this assertion : indeed in this 
neighbourhood I often see it towering 
above a mass of undergrowth, and have 
just condemned a fine young Tulip- 
tree 20 feet in height, which has sprung 
up under the shelter of a Black Walnut 
in my grounds. The stem of the Tulip- 
tree is only 1 8 inches from that of the 
Walnut, yet it is quite healthy, as are 
also some Clethra bushes near at hand 
which blossom freely every year. In 
another place a young Black Walnut 
of about fifteen years old has sprung up 
among a dense growth of shrubs, and 
as it makes a good centre to the group 
it has been allowed to remain. I have 
also time and again seen the tree planted 
on a grassy lawn, with the ground be- 
neath it fresh and verdant. There is how- 
ever an objection to its use for avenues or 
around buildings, the large and heavy 
fruits being liable to fall suddenly after 
frost in a way that is inconvenient for 
passers-by. In the autumn when the 
nuts are ready to fall, American children 
have no keener delight than to go to 
the woods and collect a supply for the 
winter. When brought home they are 
piled on the ground while the hulls 
ripen, and hulling " thereafter dyes the 
hands of our school-children a rusty 
brown for weeks at a time. 
Trees ofgreat valueare apt to be looked 
at merely from the commercial stand- 
point, and only in this way can I account 
for the neglect of the Black Walnut 
among planters. For fine effect it is 
