Butternut
Juglans cinerea L.
Also known as White Walnut.
Mature Size: 60 to 70 feet in height and about 2 feet in diameter.
Form: Forked or crooked trunk with wide-spreading branches.
Habitat: Well-drained stream banks, coves and slopes.
Leaves
Alternate, pinnately compound, 15 to 25 inches long, with 11 to 17 oblong, pointed leaflets with toothed edges; leaf stem thick and fuzzy.
Flowers
Yellow-green; males single-stemmed, in 2½ to 5½ inch catkins; females on a short spike near the end of the twig.
Fruit
Lemon shaped, with a yellow-green, sticky, nonsplitting husk; nut rough and grooved, with sweet, oily meat.
Bark
Light, ashy gray, with flat topped, shiny ridges, later developing diamond patterns.
Twigs
Thick, sometimes fuzzy, yellow-brown to gray, with dark brown divided pith inside; buds large with a few fuzzy scales; leaf scars 3-lobed, resembling a "monkey face," with an eyebrow-shaped ridge of fuzz above the leaf scar.
Values and Uses
The wood is light brown, soft, coarse-grained and takes polish well. It is not often harvested for timber, but it is used locally for cabinets, furniture, toys and novelties. A yellow or orange dye can be made from the nut husks. The sweet nuts are eaten by humans and a variety of wildlife.
Did You Know?
Like black walnut, butternut produces a chemical called juglone, which prevents many other plant species from growing near it.
