Juglans cinerea

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"White walnut" and "White Walnut" redirect here. For the Australian tree, see Cryptocarya obovata.

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For other uses of the term "butternut", see Butternut.
Juglans cinerea
Butternut
File:Juglans cinerea.jpg
A mature Juglans cinerea (Butternut) tree
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Fagales
Family:
Juglandaceae
Genus:
Juglans
Section:
Trachycaryon
Species:
J. cinerea
Binomial name
Juglans cinerea
L. 1759
File:Juglans cinerea range map 1.png
Natural range
Synonyms[2]
  • Nux cinerea (L.) M.Gómez
  • Wallia cinerea (L.) Alef.

Juglans cinerea, commonly known as butternut or white walnut,[3] is a species of walnut native to the eastern United States and southeast Canada.

Distribution

The distribution range of J. cinerea extends east to New Brunswick, and from southern Quebec west to Minnesota, south to northern Alabama and southwest to northern Arkansas.[4] It is absent from most of the Southern United States.[5] The species also proliferates at middle elevations (+/-2000 ft above sea level) in the Columbia River basin, Pacific Northwest; as an off-site species. With 7 ft (over mature) class range diameter at breast height noted in the Imnaha River drainage as late as January 26, 2015.

Description

J. cinerea is a deciduous tree growing to 20 m (66 ft) tall, rarely 40 m (130 ft). Butternut is a slow-growing species, and rarely lives longer than 75 years. It has a 40–80 cm stem diameter, with light gray bark.

The leaves are pinnate, 40–70 cm long, with 11–17 leaflets, each leaflet 5–10 cm long and 3–5 cm broad. The whole leaf is downy-pubescent, and a somewhat brighter, yellower green than many other tree leaves.

Flowering and fruiting

File:Butternut nut.jpg
A butternut

Butternut flowers from April to June, depending upon location. The species is monoecious. Male flowers are slender catkins that develop from auxiliary buds and female flowers are short terminal spikes on current year's shoots. Flowers of both sexes do not usually mature simultaneously on any individual tree.

The male flowers are inconspicuous yellow-green catkins produced in spring at the same time as the new leaves appear, and the female flowers have light pink stigma.

The fruit is a lemon-shaped nut, produced in bunches of two to six together; the nut is oblong-ovoid, 3–6 cm long and 2–4 cm broad, surrounded by a green husk before maturity in midautumn.

Key characteristics:

  • Alternate, compound leaves
  • Odd number of leaflets – has a terminal leaflet

Ecology

Soil and topography

Butternut grows best on stream banks and on well-drained soils. It is seldom found on dry, compact, or infertile soils. It grows better than black walnut, however, on dry, rocky soils, especially those of limestone origin.

Butternut is found most frequently in coves, on stream benches and terraces, on slopes, in the talus of rock ledges, and on other sites with good drainage. It is found up to an elevation of 1500 m (4,900 ft) in the Virginias – much higher altitudes than black walnut.

Associated forest cover

Butternut is found with many other tree species in several hardwood types in the mixed mesophytic forest. It is an associated species in the following four northern and central forest cover types: sugar maple–basswood, yellow poplar–white oak–northern red oak, beech–sugar maple, and river birch–sycamore. Commonly associated trees include basswood (Tilia spp.), black cherry (Prunus serotina), beech (Fagus grandifolia), black walnut (Juglans nigra), elm (Ulmus spp.), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), hickory (Carya spp.), oak (Quercus spp.), red maple (Acer rubrum), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), white ash (Fraxinus americana), and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis). In the northeast part of its range, it is often found with sweet birch (Betula lenta) and in the northern part of its range it is occasionally found with white pine (Pinus strobus). Forest stands seldom contain more than an occasional butternut tree, although in local areas, it may be abundant. In the past, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Tennessee have been the leading producers of butternut timber.

Canopy competition

Although young trees may withstand competition from the side, butternut does not survive under shade from above. It must be in the overstory to thrive. Therefore, it is classed as intolerant of shade and competition.

Diseases

File:Dead Butternuts.jpg
Butternuts killed by butternut canker

Butternut canker

The most serious disease of J. cinerea is butternut decline or butternut canker.[6] In the past, the causal organism of this disease was thought to be a fungus, Melanconis juglandis. Now this fungus has been associated with secondary infections and the primary causal organism of the disease has been identified as another species of fungus, Sirococcus clavigignenti-juglandacearum. The fungus is spread by wide-ranging vectors,[citation needed] so isolation of a tree offers no protection.

Symptoms of the disease include dying branches and stems. Initially, cankers develop on branches in the lower crown. Spores developing on these dying branches are spread by rainwater to tree stems. Stem cankers develop 1 to 3 years after branches die. Tree tops killed by stem-girdling cankers do not resprout. Diseased trees usually die within several years. Completely free-standing trees seem better able to withstand the fungus than those growing in dense stands or forest. In some areas, 90% of the butternut trees have been killed. The disease is reported to have eliminated butternut from North and South Carolina.[citation needed] The disease is also reported to be spreading rapidly in Wisconsin. By contrast, black walnut seems to be resistant to the disease.

Hybrid resistance

The hybrid between butternut and the Japanese walnut is commonly known as the 'buartnut' and shows resistance to the butternut canker.[citation needed] At Prospect Rock Permaculture, researchers are back-crossing butternut to buartnut, creating 'butter-buarts" which should have more butternut traits than buartnuts. They are selecting for resistance to the butternut canker.

Other pests

Bunch disease also attacks butternut. Currently, the causal agent is thought to be a mycoplasma-like organism. Symptoms include a yellow witches' broom resulting from sprouting and growth of auxiliary buds that would normally remain dormant. Infected branches fail to become dormant in the fall and are killed by frost; highly susceptible trees may eventually be killed. Butternut seems to be more susceptible to this disease than black walnut.

The common grackle has been reported to destroy immature fruit and may be considered a butternut pest when populations are high.

Butternut is very susceptible to fire damage, and although the species is generally wind firm, it is subject to frequent storm damage.

Conservation

The species is not listed as threatened federally in the US, but is listed as "Special Concern" in Kentucky, "Exploitably Vulnerable" in New York State, and "Threatened" in Tennessee.[7]

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada placed the butternut on the endangered species list in Canada in 2005.[1]

Uses

Culinary

Butternut (Juglans cinerea)
Nutritional value per 100 g
Energy 2,561 kJ (612 kcal)
12.05 g
Dietary fiber 4.7 g
56.98 g
Saturated 1.306 g
Monounsaturated 10.425 g
Polyunsaturated 42.741 g
24.90 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equiv.
(1%)
6 μg
Vitamin A 124 IU
Thiamine (B1)
(33%)
0.383 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
(12%)
0.148 mg
Niacin (B3)
(7%)
1.045 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)
(13%)
0.633 mg
Vitamin B6
(43%)
0.560 mg
Folate (B9)
(17%)
66 μg
Vitamin B12
(0%)
0 μg
Vitamin C
(4%)
3.2 mg
Minerals
Calcium
(5%)
53 mg
Iron
(31%)
4.02 mg
Magnesium
(67%)
237 mg
Manganese
(312%)
6.560 mg
Phosphorus
(64%)
446 mg
Potassium
(9%)
421 mg
Sodium
(0%)
1 mg
Zinc
(33%)
3.13 mg
Other constituents
Water 3.34 g
Alcohol (ethanol) 0
Caffeine 0
Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Commercial seed-bearing age begins at about 20 years and is optimum from age 30 to 60 years. Good crops can be expected every 2 to 3 years, with light crops during intervening years. The white walnut is more valued for its nuts than its lumber. The nuts are eaten by humans and animals. The nuts are usually used in baking and making candies, having an oily texture and pleasant flavor.

Lumber

Butternut wood is light in weight and takes polish well, and is highly rot resistant, but is much softer than black walnut wood. Oiled, the grain of the wood usually shows much light. It is often used to make furniture, and is a favorite of woodcarvers.

Fabric dye

Butternut bark and nut rinds were once often used to dye cloth to colors between light yellow[8] and dark brown.[9] To produce the darker colors, the bark is boiled to concentrate the color. This appears to never have been used as a commercial dye, but rather was used to color homespun cloth.

In the mid-19th century, inhabitants of areas such as southern Illinois and southern Indiana – many of whom had moved there from the Southern United States – were known as "butternuts" from the butternut-dyed homespun cloth that some of them wore. Later, during the American Civil War, the term "butternut" was sometimes applied to Confederate soldiers. Some Confederate uniforms apparently faded from gray to a tan or light brown. It is also possible that butternut was used to color the cloth worn by a small number of Confederate soldiers.[10] The resemblance of these uniforms to butternut-dyed clothing, and the association of butternut dye with home-made clothing, resulted in this derisive nickname.

Medicinal

Butternut bark has mild cathartic properties[citation needed] and was once used medicinally in place of jalap, a more expensive cathartic which was imported from Mexico.

During the American Revolution, a butternut extract made from the inner bark of the tree was used in an attempt to prevent smallpox, and to treat dysentery and other stomach and intestinal discomfort.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Government of Canada, Species at Risk Public Registry, species profile, butternut
  2. ↑ The Plant List, Juglans cinerea L.
  3. ↑ Snow, Charles Henry. The Principal Species of Wood: Their Characteristic Properties. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1908. Page 56.
  4. ↑ Sargent, Charles Sprague. The Woods of the United States. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1885. Page 238.
    Snow, cited above, says "New Brunswick to Georgia, westward to Dakota and Arkansas. Best in Ohio River Basin".
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ PLANTS Profile for Juglans cinerea (butternut) | USDA PLANTS
  8. ↑ Snow, Charles Henry. The Principal Species of Wood: Their Characteristic Properties. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1908. Page 56.
  9. ↑ Saunders, Charles Francis. Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. New York: Robert M. McBride & Co., 1920. Page 227.
  10. ↑ Saunders, Charles Francis. Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. New York: Robert M. McBride & Co., 1920. Page 227.
  11. ↑ Thatcher, James, M.D. A Military Journal During the American Revolutionary War. Boston: Cottons & Barnard, 1827. Page 251.

External links

External identifiers for Juglans cinerea
Encyclopedia of Life 596229
ITIS 19250
NCBI 91214
Also found in: Wikispecies
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