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Common name: Butternut, White Walnut
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Latin name: Juglans
cinerea Common name: Butternut, White Walnut |
Photograph
showing trunk and bark of Butternut. Other common names
for the Juglans cinerea tree are white walnut, demon
walnut and oilnut. Butternut trees are native to the
United States. They are slow growing and seldom live
more than 75 years. Butternut trees are being killed
off by Butternut canker. The tree is considered to
be "threatened"
in Tennessee; "exploitably vulnerable" in New York and of "special concern" in
Kentucky. 
Branch of Butternut with leaves and catkins. Flowering
occurs from April to June. The Butternut tree is monoecious with female (pistillate)
and male (staminate) flowers appearing on the same tree, but not usually opening
at the same time. The flowers are borne on pendulous catkins - with male and
female flowers on separate catkins. Notice the hairy "moustache like" pad above the leaf scar.
Some people call it eyebrows for the "monkey face" shaped leaf scar. 
Photo showing branch of Juglans cinerea
L. with leaf scars, bundle scars, lenticels and buds.
The
Butternut tree has compound leaves that are 15 - 30 inches long. Generally 11-17
leaflets with terminal leaflet is present. The leaflets are nearly sessile
(don't have stalks) and are attached to a stout, hairy rachis. The leaves are
hairy above and below and have fine sharp teeth. June 04, 2006
The terminal bud is irregularly oblong and somewhat flattened. Lateral buds are
ovoid and much smaller. Lateral buds are generally superposed.
July 23, 2006
Male
flowers (catkins) of Butternut tree. May
15, 2008
The fruit of the Butternut is oblong ovoid -- it is nearly twice as long as it
is wide. The fruit is covered with hairs and is frequently borne clusters.
It ripens in October. July 23, 2006
The young twigs, stems, leaflets and fruit have hairs that are sticky and oily to the touch. Fruit is an oblong-ovoid nut 4-6(-8) cm long, single or in clusters of 2-5, with a hard, thick, deeply furrowed shell enclosed by a thick husk with a sticky-glandular surface.
The butternut photos above were taken on July 7, 2008. The tree on the left has the following Morton Arboretum asset tag information.
1-92*3 plt and is located at N-61/35-08.
Although this is a relatively young tree, it had the best crops of walnuts that I have seen and because it is young the branches and fruit are low enough that they are easy to observe and photograph.
The Juglans cinerea trees on this page are located in the "Central Area" of Morton Arboretum near Parking 2.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3
http://www.mortonarb.org/maps/farwestside_collections.htm
| Kingdom: Plantae -- Plants | |||||||||
| Subkingdom: Tracheobionta -- Vascular plants | |||||||||
| Superdivision: Spermatophyta -- Seed plants | |||||||||
| Division: Magnoliophyta -- Flowering plants | |||||||||
| Class: Magnoliopsida -- Dicotyledons | |||||||||
| Subclass: Hamamelidae | |||||||||
| Order: Juglandales - | |||||||||
| Family: Juglandaceae - Walnut family | |||||||||
| Genus: Juglans L. - walnut | |||||||||
| Species: Juglans cinerea L. - butternut | |||||||||
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Product Suitability |
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Berry/Nut/Seed Product |
Yes |
Palatable Browse Animal |
Low |
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Christmas Tree Product |
No |
Palatable Graze Animal |
Low |
|
|
Fodder Product |
No |
Palatable Human |
No |
|
|
Fuelwood Product |
High |
Post Product |
Yes |
|
|
Lumber Product |
Yes |
Protein Potential |
||
|
Naval Store Product |
No |
Pulpwood Product |
Yes |
|
|
Nursery Stock Product |
Yes |
Veneer Product |
Yes |
|
Native to U.S.
Primary use as nursery stock product and pulp wood product. Medium use as a fuel wood product.
The tree itself has low palatability to browsing animals and grazing animals and is not palatable to humans. The nuts, however, are used in baking and, in New England, for maple-butternut candy.
Slight toxicity
The tree has slow growth rate and a short life span. Maximum height at 20
years is 20 feet, and maximum height at maturity is 80 feet.
Low tolerance to drought and fire and intolerant to shade.
Seed production for the Butternut begins at about 20 years of age and is at optimum from about age 30-60. the tree that is pictured on this page is about 25 years old.
Resources:
USDA, NRCS. (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.Karren Wcisel © copyright 2005 - 2008
Send email to Karrenw@aol.com