Black Walnut

 Juglans nigra

Identification Information

Date: Sunday, June 13, 2021

Time: 4:45 p.m.

Location:  Hunsicker’s Grove (9350 Longswamp Road, Mertztown, PA 19539)

Habitat:  Temperate Mixed Forest, dominated by Hickory-Oak

Weather conditions:  75 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly humid, cloudy skies

A big, beautiful black walnut tree!  I remember chucking the fruits of these as a kid on a local playground.  This one was, perhaps, 40 feet tall with a trunk almost two feet in diameter.  I learned from some research that this one must have grown amongst other trees because its branches begin fairly high up the trunk.  Now there are no trees for at least 20 feet.  This may be because Black Walnuts are allelopathic.

Lohmiller, G., & Lohmiller, B. (2020, August 19). Black walnut trees: Facts about the infamous black 

     walnut. The Old Farmer's Almanac. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from https://www.almanac.com/ 

     black-walnut-trees 

The leaves are over a foot long, with more than a dozen pinnate leaflets.  Black Walnut bark is deeply ridged and gray-black in color.  This wood is valued for its color and rot resistance.

(Brockman, 1986, p. 92)

While it is difficult to get to the meat of the nut, black walnuts are completely edible.  What would be more American than an apple-walnut dessert!?

After the green-skinned fruit is removed, a highly ridged shell remains.  Inside of this is the nut.  I'm familiar with this one.  But I read that these trees can also be tapped in the spring.  What does walnut syrup taste like?!

 

Juglans nigra. (2021, March 31). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/ 

     wiki/Juglans_nigra