134 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND TREES. 
one tree ; the males forming a long drooping catkin of slender 
cylindrical form, the females being solitary, or a few grouped 
at the end of a shoot. Separated from the catkin, the males 
will each be seen to consist of a calyx of five greenish scales, 
enclosing a large number of stamens. The calyx of the female 
closely invests the ovary, which has two or three fleshy stigmas. 
The flowering takes place in early spring, before the leaf-buds 
have burst. The fruit is a plum-like drupe, only the enveloping 
green flesh becomes brown, and, splitting irregularly, discloses 
the “ stone,” which in this species takes the form of a hard but 
thin-shelled nut — the well-known Walnut, with its wrinkled kernel 
of crisp white flesh, from which a fine oil is obtained. The 
ripening of these nuts — which is accomplished by the beginning 
of October — can only be relied upon in the southern half of 
Britain, and even there the crop is often spoiled by late 
frosts in spring. Its chief value in Europe is as a fruit-tree, 
though the light but tough wood is much esteemed for the 
manufacture of furniture. Owing to its rapid growth, the grain 
is coarse, but the dark-brown colour is esteemed, especially as 
it is relieved by streaks and veins of lighter tints and black. 
It is easily worked, and bears a high polish. The wood of 
young trees is white, gradually deepening to brown as maturity is 
approached. All the juices of the tree, whether from wood, bark, 
leaves, or green fruit, are rich in the brown pigment to which 
the hue of the timber is due. The combined lightness and 
toughness of the wood led to its adoption as the favourite material 
for making the stocks of guns and rifles. It is said that so 
great was the demand for this purpose during the Peninsular 
War, that a single Walnut-tree realized ^600 for its timber, and 
this created a boom that led to the cutting down of all our finest 
Walnut-trees. Some of these were doubtless the very trees 
referred to by Evelyn, who tells us the Walnut was extensively 
planted at Leatherhead in Surrey, also at Cassaulton (Carshalton) 
and Godstone in the same county, where the rambler may 
