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Scientific Name: Juglands cinerea

Author: Kwon, Sam Soonchae

Common Names: "Butternut", "White Walnut"

Higher taxa: *According to the Cronquist System of Classification
Division MAGNOLIOPHYTA
Class MAGNOLIOPSIDA (dicots)
Subclass Hamamelidae
      Order Juglandales
        Family Juglandaceae
          Subfamily
            Tribe
              Genus Juglands
                    Species cinerea
Identification:

2. J. cinerea L., Buttercup, White Walnut." Pith dark brown. Leaflets 7-17, ovate or lanceolate,  2.5-17.5 cm long, 1.5-6.5cm wide, pubescent with fascicled glandular trichomes  beneath, acuminate, serrate, base oblique or rounded, sessile; petioles 3.5-12 cm long; rachis and petiole with glandular and nonglandular trichomes. Fruit ellipsoid, glandular pubescent, 5-6.5 cm long, 2.3-3 cm in diam."(Radford, 1968)

Dendrology: Leaves: alternate, pinnately compound, 11-17 leaflets. Buds: terminal longer than nigra, yellowish color leaf scars with hairy fringe above. Twigs: pith chambered. Bark: flat topped broad ridges ashy gray color, also chocolate brown color when scraped. Fruit: oblong nut, husk sticky, nut corrugations sharp. Becoming rare due to disease.(Heywood)

Location and reference: Carl Linneaus, Systema Naturale

Location: London: Herbarium, The Linnean Society of London, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, WIV OLQ, England, Great Britain.

Geography:

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Butternut is distributed from southeastern New Brunswick throughout the New England States except for northern Maine and Cape Cod. Its range extends south to include northern New Jersey, western Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee. Small isolated pockets occur in North Carolina, northwestern South Carolina, northern Georgia, northern Alabama, northern Mississippi, and Arkansas. Westward it is found in eastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. Disjunct populations occur in Wisconsin, Michigan, and northeast into Ontario and Quebec. Throughout most of its range, butternut is not a common tree and its frequency is declining. The ranges of butternut and black walnut overlap, but butternut occurs farther north than and not as far south as black walnut"(www. dept of agr.)

REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Seed production and dispersal: Commercial seed-bearing age begins at 20 years and is optimum from 30 to 60 years. Good crops of seed can be expected every 2 to 3 years. A high percentage of seeds are sound, but high seed losses occur due to consumption by birds, insects, and rodents. Natural pollination failures often occur due to the lack of pollinated trees in immediate vicinity .Upon ripening, seeds are dispersed by gravity, squirrels, and other rodents. (www. dept of agriculture) .

Vegetative propagation: Stumps of young butternut trees and saplings can sprout.

SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Butternut is found most frequently in coves, on stream benches and terraces, on slopes, in the tallus of rock ledges, and on other sites with good drainage . It is found up to an elevation of 4,900 feet (1,500 m) in the Virginias . In addition to those indicated in the SAF cover type slot (Distribution and occurence), common tree associates include black walnut (Juglans nigra), hickory (Carya spp.), and white ash (Fraxinus americana) (www. dept of agriculture) .

SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Although young trees can tolerate partial shade, butternut must be in the overstory to thrive and is classified as intolerant to shade and competition . Like other members of the Junglandaceae family, butternut produces a substance called juglone, a naphthoquinone that is selectively toxic to associated vegetation. Greatest concentrations of juglone are in root tissue and fruit husks, with lesser amounts in the leaves, catkins, buds, and inner bark" (www.dept of agriculture) .