Butternut

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Origin: Eastern North America, southern Ontario to eastern Texas

Growth Habits: Small to medium-sized deciduous tree, relatively short lived, fast growing to 40 to 60 feet tall (12-18 m) or more, 30 to 50 feet spread (9-15 m); alternate, odd-pinnately compound leaves, 10 to 25 inches long (25-62 cm), with 11 to 19 serrated leaflets, 3 to 5 inches long (7.5-12.5 cm), odoriferous when bruised, their underside densely covered with stellate hairs

Watering Needs: Moist, well drained soils, relatively drought resistant

Propagation: Seed, cuttings

Juglans nigra bark and leaf, Robert H. Mohlenbrock. USDA NRCS. 1995. Northeast wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species.

Blooming Habits:
The male flowers are long catkins, 2.4 to 5.6 inches long (6-14 cm). The female flowers are yellowish green, on short spikes, close to the end of the twigs. The black walnut blooms in the spring (April to June).

Fruiting Habits:
The fruit is a elongated nut, 1 to 1.6 inches in diameter (2.5-4 cm), containing a tasty, oily seed, ripening in the fall (September-October). It generally stays on the tree until early winter. It is surrounded by a very hard thick shell. The husk is oblong and sticky.

Culture:
As is typical among the walnuts, the butternut secretes a substance (juglone) that prevents close-by plants to grow.