BUTTERNUT
Juglans cinerea, L.
Form.—Height 20-60 feet, diameter 2-3 feet; trunk short, dividing into an open, broad crown of large horizontal or ascending branches.
Leaves.—Alternate, compound, 15-30 inches long; leaflets 11-17, oblong, acute, 2-3 inches long, finely serrate except at the base, yellow-green, rough above, pubescent beneath; petioles hairy.
Flowers.—May, with the first leaves; monoecious; staminate flowers in drooping catkins the pistillate solitary or several on a spike, bracts covered with white or pink glandular hairs; pistils red.
Fruit.—Matures in autumn; solitary or in clusters of 3-5; nut ovate-oblong, deeply furrowed and sculptured into several longitudinal ribs; husk thin, hairy, sticky; kernel sweet, edible, and oily.
Bark.—Light gray on twigs, brownish on old trunks; divided by dark fissures into lighter flat-topped ridges. Inner bark bitter, becoming yellow on exposure to the air.
Wood.—Light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, light brown, light colored sapwood.
Range.—Southern Canada and Minnesota to Delaware and Arkansas, south in the mountains to Georgia.
Distribution in West Virginia.—A common tree, found throughout the State except in the highest mountains and in a few areas south and west, especially in Jackson, Putnam, Mingo, and Wyoming counties. Thrives at higher altitudes than Black Walnut, and grows at 3000 feet, or over, along cold mountain streams and hillsides in Randolph and adjacent counties.
Habitat.—Prefers rich, moist soil.
Notes.—A less common and less valuable tree than its near relative next described.