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Common name: Butternut, White Walnut
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Latin name: Juglans
cinerea Common name: Butternut, White Walnut |
NOTE!!! Google map at the bottom of this page shows tree locations
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. April 13, 2005.
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. April 13, 2005
Photo
showing branch of Juglans cinerea
L. with leaf scars, bundle scars, lenticels and buds. April 13, 2005
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. The young twigs, stems,
leaflets and fruit have hairs that are sticky and oily to the touch. July 23, 2006
Male
flowers (catkins) of Butternut tree. May
15, 2008
The fruit of the Butternut is oblong ovoid . The fruit is covered with hairs and is frequently
borne clusters. Fruit
is an oblong-ovoid nut 4-6(-8) cm long. It is nearly twice as long as it
is wide. Fruits ar 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 fruit of the Butternut ripens in September or October and
may stay on the tree until after the leaves fall. Photo
taken in mid July, 2008.
The
tree on the left is near Parking lot 2 and 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 crop of nuts that I have seen and because it is young the branches and fruit are low enough that they are easy to observe and photograph. This tree is plotted on the Google Map at the bottom of this page as a red marker with a black dot.
The Juglans cinerea trees on this page are located in the "Central Area" of Morton Arboretum near Parking 2. There are two Butternut trees on the north side of the road and two more on the south side.
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 | |||||||||
Native to U.S.
Primary use as nursery stock product and pulp wood product. Medium use as a fuel wood product.
Butternut fruit provides food for squirrels and other rodents and the leaves are palatable to white-tailed deer. The nuts are used in baking and, in New England, for maple-butternut candy.
Slight toxicity. Like Juglans nigra (black walnut), Juglans cinerea produce a substance called juglone in roots, fruit husks and leaves that is toxic to some plant species. This substance inhibits the growth of seedlings, including their own.
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.
Butternut is very susceptible to fire damage 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
Coladonato, Milo 1991. Juglans cinerea. In: Fire Effects Information System,
[Online] http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/jugcin/all.html.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer).
Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2008, August 22].
Karren Wcisel © copyright 2005 - 2008
Send email to Karrenw@aol.com