Butternut, White Walnut
Latin name: Juglans cinerea
Etymology: The genus name is derived from two Latin words: Jovis (Ju) refers to the Roman god Jupiter, while glans means an acorn or nut. The species name is derived from the Latin word for ‘ashen’ (cinereus) and refers to the grayish color of the bark.
Family: Juglandaceae (Walnuts)
Origin: Eastern Canada and central and eastern US
Native habitats: Mesic woods and river banks
Few have heard of the butternut–yet another native tree that has been made rare by an introduced disease. The Friends of Herrontown Woods is proud to be partnering with a local nut tree expert, Bill Sachs, to bring back the butternut. FOHW helped Bill collect nuts from two original trees in Princeton, and has helped plant and maintain butternut trees in many Princeton parks and preserves. In 2022, the new trees bore their first crop of nuts, beginning the next generation.
Description: Butternuts grow 40-100 feet high, with a diameter of 1-3 feet. Leaves are dark green, pinnately-compound measuring 10-20 inches long, and have 11 to 19 leaflets that are finely hairy and have serrated margins. The bark is smooth, gray to grayish-brown with scattered pale lenticels. It develops narrow, flat-topped white shiny ridges and broad, dark gray to black shallow furrows as the tree ages. Flowers are yellow-green slender catkins (male) or inconspicuous green-yellow short spikes that appear at the end of branches (female) flowers that appear between April and June. Fruits are oblong and sticky nuts with one-piece husks that are found from October until November.
Similar species: Black walnut does not have a hairy ridge above the leaf scar, lighter colored pith and the bark ridges are not shiny. It is also frequently missing the end leaflet.
Wildlife value: The nuts are eaten by a variety of animals.
Uses: Early colonists used to prepare a yellow-brown stain by oiling the half-ripe fruits and a dark stain from the husks and inner bark. Native Americans used to boil the nuts to obtain oil and dried the nutmeats. In spring, sap was boiled down to make syrups and crushed fruits were used to poison fish. The bark was and is used as medicine to treat digestive and skin problems.
