Butternut

The Juglans Cinerea is commonly known as Butternut, Oilnut, as well as White Walnut

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Growing Regions

Butternut is distributed from southeastern New Brunswick throughout the New England States except for northern Maine and Cape Cod. Its range extends south to include northern New Jersey, western Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee. Small isolated pockets occur in North Carolina, northwestern South Carolina, northern Georgia, northern Alabama, northern Mississippi, and Arkansas. Westward it is found in eastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. Disjunct populations occur in Wisconsin, Michigan, and northeast into Ontario and Quebec. Throughout most of its range, butternut is not a common tree and its frequency is declining. The ranges of butternut and black walnut overlap, but butternut occurs farther north than and not as far south as black walnut [3,26,30]. Butternut is cultivated in Hawaii [33].

     

General Information

The currently accepted scientific name for butternut is Juglans cinerea L. [16]. Butternut and black walnut (Juglans nigra) are very similiar, but can be distinguished by certain morphological differences. Butternut has a pad of small dense hairs extending crosswise along the upper margin of the old leaf scars; in black walnut this pad is absent. The underside leaflets of butternut are densely covered with stellate hairs, while in black walnut leaflet hairs are almost inconspicuous [31]. Recognized hybrids are as follows [24]: J. cinerea x J. regia = J. X quadrangulata J. cinerea x J. ailantifolia = J. X bixbi Reports of crosses between butternut and black walnut have not been substantiated [24].

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