Juglans nigra

COMMON NAME: Black Walnut; Eastern Black Walnut

FAMILY: Walnut Family; Juglandaceae

GROWTH HABIT: Large tree to 50 - 75 ft. in height and often a similar spread when open grown. Usually develops a full, well formed trunk which s devoid of branches a considerable (1/2 to 2/3's) distance from the ground. the crown is oval to rounded and somewhat open.

FOLIAGE: Alternate, pinnately compound, deciduous. 13 - 23 leaflets, each leaflet 2 - 5 in. long, 3/4 to 2 in. wide, ovate-oblong to ovate-lanceolate, rounded at base, acuminate. Irregularly serrate. Dark green. Leaves fragrant when crushed.

BUDS: Grayish. Terminate buds ovate, 1/3 in. long, scarcely longer than broad; lateral buds smaller, often superposed.

BARK: Dark brown to grayish black, rough bark--divided by deep, narrow furrows into thin ridges, forming a roughly diamond shaped pattern.

FLOWERS: Male and female flowers separate on same plant. Males are catkins 2 - 5 inches long. The female flowers are round or slightly pear-shaped 1 1/2 - 2 inches across.

FRUIT: Nuts spherical. Sometimes broader than high, slightly compressed, strongly and irregularly ridged, about 2 inches across.

NATURAL HISTORY: Does best on deep, rich, moist soils of alluvial origin; on poorer sites makes relatively slower growth.

NATIVE HABITAT: Western Massachusetts to Florida and west to central Nebraska.