Juglans ailantifolia
Japanese walnut | |
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Foliage and nuts | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fagales |
Family: | Juglandaceae |
Genus: | Juglans |
Section: | Juglans sect. Cardiocaryon |
Species: | J. ailantifolia
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Binomial name | |
Juglans ailantifolia Carr. |
Juglans ailantifolia (synonyms J. cordiformis and J. sieboldiana and J. mandshurica var. sachalinensis), the Japanese walnut (Japanese: 鬼胡桃, romanized: oni-gurumi), is a species of walnut native to Japan and Sakhalin.[1] It is a deciduous tree growing to 20 m (66 ft) tall, rarely 30 m (98 ft), and 40–80 cm (16–31 in) stem diameter, with light grey bark. The leaves are pinnate, 50–90 cm (20–35 in) long, with 11–17 leaflets, each leaflet 7–16 cm (2.8–6.3 in) long and 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) broad. The whole leaf is downy-pubescent, and a somewhat brighter, yellower green than many other tree leaves. The male flowers are inconspicuous yellow-green catkins produced in spring at the same time as the new leaves appear. The female flowers have pink/red pistils. The fruit is a nut, produced in bunches of 4–10 together; the nut is spherical, 3–5 cm long and broad, surrounded by a green husk before maturity in mid autumn.
Uses
The edible nuts have an oily texture. The husks are also used to make a yellowish dye.
The very bold, decorative leaves and catkins produced in spring make it a common ornamental tree for planting in parks and large gardens.
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Heartnut in flower
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Herbarium sheet, 19th century
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Juglans ailantifolia bark at the Cornell Botanic Gardens.
Unlike the closely related and very similar
The
Cultivars
The heartnut is a cultivar of Japanese walnut distinguished by its fruit, which is heart-shaped in cross-section, very hard to crack, and able to yield unbroken nut meat when cracked. The heartnut is a sweet nut without a bitter aftertaste often intrinsic with black and Persian walnuts. This is the subspecies that hybridizes with butternuts, creating 'buartnuts', or Juglans x bixbyi.
Diseases
The only significant disease Japanese walnuts are susceptible to is the walnut bunch disease.
References
External links
- Media related to Juglans ailantifolia at Wikimedia Commons