Shape oval, up to 90 ft. tall. Bark deeply fissured, gray; twigs stout, downy and sticky when young, as are the stout buds. Leaves with downy, sticky stalk and central axis, consisting in 11-19 leaflets. Fruits 3-5 on a branch, ½ in. long, coated with matted, clammy, rusty hairs; the husk not splitting; nut 2-celled at base, ridged, with sweet kernel. Range: N.B. to Va., s. in the mts. to Ga., w. to centr. Minn. and s. to Ark. The light brown, soft wood is used for furniture and interior finish. The green husks are still employed in the s. Appalachians to dye cloth orange and yellow; sugar of excellent quality can be made from the sap. CALIFORNIA WALNUT (Juglans Hindsii) differs from Black Walnut in having 11-17 narrower leaflets and smaller nuts. Coast from San Francisco south. MEXICAN WALNUT (Juglans rupestris) is a small tree, with 9-23 very slender leaflets. W. Tex. to Ariz.
Black Walnut
BLACK WALNUT
(Juglans nigra)
Shape round headed, short trunked, up to 150 ft. tall. Bark brown, furrowed. Twigs thick, downy at first. Buds flattened, with 4 scales. Leaves with 15-25 pairs of leaflets, minutely downy beneath, becoming smooth and shiny above. Fruit solitary or paired, about 2 in. thick, the husk not splitting, thick, bitter-smelling; kernel sweet inside the 4-celled, black nut. Range: s. N.E. to Gt. Lakes region and centr. Neb., s. to e. Tex., and s. on the piedmont to Ga. and Ala. The very strong heavy, durable wood is a beautiful rich dark brown. It has played an interesting role in American history. Its husks dyed the homespuns of the first settlers; its wood furnished the colonial cabinet makers, and in the Civil War it was in great demand for gunstocks. The craze for this tree reached fantastic lengths and resulted in its widespread destruction.
Canoe Birch
CANOE BIRCH
(Betula papyrifera)
Shape broadly pyramidal: up to 80 ft. tall. Bark soft, chalky white (gray, or orange, in some regions) peeling around the stems in papery strips. Branches horizontal, often pendulous at the ends. Leaves shining above, black-dotted below. Range: Lab. to Alaska and Wash., s. to Pa., s. Mich., s. Wis., and w. to Neb. and Mont. The wood is valued for woodenware. This lovely tree with cheerful foliage and softly gleaming bark, lightens the somberness of northern forests, and furnished Indians with canoes. BLACK BIRCH (Betula fontinalis) is similar, but with close bronze bark and doubly toothed leaves. Alaska to Ore., in the Rockies to Colo. RIVER BIRCH (Betula nigra) has ragged, flaky, silvery gray to reddish brown bark and rhombic-oval leaves, the undersides whitish and downy. River-banks, Mass. to s. Minn. (but s. of the Gt. Lakes) and to n. Fla. and e. Tex. Not in the higher Appalachians.
