Juglans cinerea
Butternut | |
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A mature butternut tree | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fagales |
Family: | Juglandaceae |
Genus: | Juglans |
Section: | Juglans sect. Trachycaryon |
Species: | J. cinerea
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Binomial name | |
Juglans cinerea L. 1759
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Natural range | |
Synonyms[3] | |
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Juglans cinerea, commonly known as butternut or white walnut,
Distribution
The distribution range of J. cinerea extends east to New Brunswick, and from southern Quebec west to Minnesota, south to northern Alabama and southwest to northern Arkansas.[5] It is absent from most of the Southern United States.[6] The species also proliferates at middle elevations (about 2,000 ft or 610 m above sea level) in the Columbia River basin, Pacific Northwest; as an off-site species. Trees with 7 ft or 2.1 m (over mature) class range diameter at breast height were noted in the Imnaha River drainage as late as January 26, 2015.[citation needed] Butternut favors a cooler climate than black walnut and its range does not extend into the Deep South. Its northern range extends into Wisconsin and Minnesota where the growing season is too short for black walnut.
Description
J. cinerea is a deciduous tree growing to 20 m (66 ft) tall, rarely 40 m (130 ft). Butternut is a slow-growing species, and rarely lives longer than 75 years. It has a 40–80 cm (16–31 in) stem diameter, with light gray bark.
The
Flowering and fruiting
Like other members of the family Juglandaceae, butternut's leafout in spring is tied to
The fruit is a lemon-shaped nut, produced in bunches of two to six together; the nut is oblong-ovoid, 3–6 cm (1+1⁄4–2+1⁄4 in) long and 2–4 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄2 in) broad, surrounded by a green husk before maturity in midautumn.
Ecology
Soil and topography
Butternut grows best on stream banks and on well-drained soils. It is seldom found on dry, compact, or infertile soils. It grows better than
Butternut is found most frequently in coves, on stream benches and terraces, on slopes, in the talus of rock ledges, and on other sites with good drainage. It is found up to an elevation of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) in the Virginias – much higher altitudes than black walnut. The nuts are eaten by wildlife.[7]
Associated forest cover
Butternut is found with many other tree species in several hardwood types in the mixed mesophytic forest. It is an associated species in the following four northern and central forest cover types: sugar maple–basswood, yellow poplar–white oak–northern red oak, beech–sugar maple, and river birch–sycamore. Commonly associated trees include
Canopy competition
Although young trees may withstand competition from the side, butternut does not survive under shade from above. It must be in the overstory to thrive. Therefore, it is classed as intolerant of shade and competition.
Diseases
Butternut canker
The most serious disease of J. cinerea is butternut decline or butternut
Butternut canker first entered the United States around the beginning of the 20th century, when it arrived on imported nursery stock of Japanese walnut.
Symptoms of the disease include dying branches and stems. Initially, cankers develop on branches in the lower crown. Spores developing on these dying branches are spread by rainwater to tree stems. Stem cankers develop 1 to 3 years after branches die. Tree tops killed by stem-girdling cankers do not resprout. Diseased trees usually die within several years. Completely free-standing trees seem better able to withstand the fungus than those growing in dense stands or forest. In some areas, 90% of the butternut trees have been killed. The disease is reported to be spreading rapidly in Wisconsin. By contrast, black walnut seems to be resistant to the disease.
Hybrid resistance
Butternut hybridizes readily with Japanese walnut. The hybrid between butternut and the Japanese walnut is commonly known as the 'buartnut' and inherits Japanese walnut's resistance to the disease. Researchers are back-crossing butternut to buartnut, creating 'butter-buarts" which should have more butternut traits than buartnuts. They are selecting for resistance to the disease. Most butternuts found as landscaping trees are buartnuts rather than the pure species.[citation needed]
Other pests
The common grackle has been reported to destroy immature fruit and may be considered a butternut pest[9] when populations are high.
Butternut is very susceptible to fire damage, and although the species is generally wind firm, it is subject to frequent storm damage.[9]
Conservation
The species is not listed as threatened federally in the US, but is listed as "Special Concern" in
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada placed the butternut on the endangered species list in Canada in 2005.[12]
Approximately 60 grafted butternut trees were planted in a seed orchard in Huntingburg, Indiana, in 2012 as part of a larger effort by the USDA Forest Service to conserve the species and to breed resistance to butternut canker disease. Forest Service staff from the Hoosier National Forest, the Eastern Region National Forest genetics program, the Northern Research Station, and the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center at Purdue University are involved in the project.[13]
Famous specimens
The American Forest National Champion is located in Oneida, New York. In 2016 its circumference at breast height was 288 in (7,300 mm), the height was 67 ft (20 m), and the spread was 88 ft (27 m).[14]
The Bush butternut tree was planted by settler George Bush (1845) in current Tumwater, Washington, brought from Missouri. It was seriously damaged in a windstorm in 2015, and collapsed on May 1, 2021, at the age of 176 years.[15]
Butternut wood has been found at the pre-Columbian Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows at the northernmost tip of Newfoundland, an island where butternut does not grow and to which it therefore is presumed to have been transported from more southerly locations.[16] The butternut log specimens found there were cut with European tools.[17]
Uses
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |
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Energy | 2,560 kJ (610 kcal) |
12 g | |
Dietary fiber | 4.7 g |
57 g | |
Saturated | 1.31 g |
Monounsaturated | 10.4 g |
Polyunsaturated | 42.7 g 8.72 g 33.7 g |
24.9 g | |
Tryptophan | 0.366 g |
Threonine | 0.94 g |
Isoleucine | 1.18 g |
Leucine | 2.2 g |
Lysine | 0.77 g |
Methionine | 0.611 g |
Cystine | 0.484 g |
Phenylalanine | 1.44 g |
Tyrosine | 0.977 g |
Valine | 1.54 g |
Arginine | 4.86 g |
Histidine | 0.808 g |
Alanine | 1.37 g |
Aspartic acid | 3.1 g |
Glutamic acid | 6.08 g |
Glycine | 1.51 g |
Proline | 1.24 g |
Serine | 1.64 g |
Niacin (B3) | 7% 1.04 mg |
Pantothenic acid (B5) | 13% 0.633 mg |
Vitamin B6 | 43% 0.56 mg |
Folate (B9) | 17% 66 μg |
Vitamin C | 4% 3.2 mg |
Copper | 23% 0.45 mg |
Iron | 31% 4.02 mg |
Magnesium | 67% 237 mg |
Manganese | 312% 6.56 mg |
Phosphorus | 64% 446 mg |
Potassium | 14% 421 mg |
Selenium | 25% 17.2 μg |
Sodium | 0% 1 mg |
Zinc | 33% 3.13 mg |
Other constituents | Quantity |
Water | 3.34 g |
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults.[18] |
Culinary Use
The butternuts are edible[19] and were made into a butter-like oil by Native Americans[20] for various purposes. The young green nuts, while still soft, can be pickled; survivalist Bradford Angier recommends this be done with a change of salt water every other day for a week, and a subsequent seasoning of at least two weeks.[20] The sap can be used to make syrup.[20]
Lumber
Butternut wood is light in weight and takes polish well, and is highly rot resistant, but is much softer than
Fabric dye
Butternut bark and nut rinds were once often used to dye cloth to colors between light yellow[4] and dark brown.[21] The husks contain a natural yellow-orange dye.[7] To produce the darker colors, the bark is boiled to concentrate the color. This appears to never have been used as a commercial dye, but rather was used to color homespun cloth.
In the mid-19th century, inhabitants of areas such as southern Illinois and southern Indiana – many of whom had moved there from the Southern United States – were known as "butternuts" from the butternut-dyed homespun cloth that some of them wore. Later, during the American Civil War, the term "butternut" was sometimes applied to Confederate soldiers. Some Confederate uniforms apparently faded from gray to a tan or light brown. It is also possible that butternut was used to color the cloth worn by a small number of Confederate soldiers.[21] The resemblance of these uniforms to butternut-dyed clothing, and the association of butternut dye with home-made clothing, resulted in the derisive nickname.
Fishing
Crushed fruits can be used to poison fish, though the practice is illegal in most jurisdictions. Bruised fruit husks of the closely related black walnut can be used to stun fish.[22]
References
- . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ "Juglans cinerea. NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^ The Plant List, Juglans cinerea L.
- ^ a b Snow, Charles Henry. The Principal Species of Wood: Their Characteristic Properties. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1908. p. 56.
- ^ Sargent, Charles Sprague. The Woods of the United States. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1885. p. 238.
Snow, cited above, says "New Brunswick to Georgia, westward to Dakota and Arkansas. Best in Ohio River Basin". - ^ "Juglans cinerea Range Map" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
- ^ ISBN 0-394-50760-6.
- ^ "Butternut Canker". Gallery of Pests. Don't Move Firewood. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
- ^ a b "Juglans cinerea (Butternut, Lemon Nut, Oil Nut, White Walnut) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox". plants.ces.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ^ PLANTS Profile for Juglans cinerea (butternut) | USDA PLANTS
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Government of Canada, Species at Risk Public Registry, species profile, butternut". Archived from the original on 2013-06-10. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
- ^ "OFS part of US Forestry program to save butternut trees". Dubois County Free Press. 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
- ^ "Champion Tree National Register". www.americanforests.org. 2017-08-16. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
- ^ "When a Tree Falls in the Forest of Time". www.chronline.com. 2021-05-07.
- ^ Wallace, B.L. "L’Anse aux Meadows and Vinland: an abandoned experiment," Contact, Continuity, and Collapse: the Norse Colonization of the North Atlantic, pp.207-208 (Barrett, J., ed., Brepols, 2003); Wallace, B.L., "The Norse in Newfoundland: L'Anse aux Meadows and Vinland," Newfoundland and Labrador Studies, pp.26-30 (2003).
- ^ "How an endangered tree may link Vikings to New Brunswick". CBC News. October 26, 2019.
- ^ United States Department of Agriculture; Agricultural Research Service (2019). "FoodData Central". Retrieved 2024-03-18.
- OCLC 244766414.
- ^ OCLC 799792.
- ^ a b Saunders, Charles Francis. Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. New York: Robert M. McBride & Co., 1920. p. 227.
- ^ Petrides, G. A., & Wehr, J. (1998). Eastern Trees. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
External links
- Vt.edu: Juglans cinerea (Butternut) ID photos and range map
- United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Juglans cinerea fact sheet
- Photo of fruit with husk removed
- Cross-section photo of fruit with husk removed
- Photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Missouri in 1937, showing leaf