Common Name: Black Walnut
Scientific Name: Juglans nigra
Location: Quadrangle
Identifying Features
Walnut’s long leaves are divided into many leaflets. The large, round, green fruits ripen in the fall and the husks can be found rotting on the ground beneath the trees (these will stain your hands). The ‘nut’ that we eat is found deep inside the fruit.
Needs Distribution/Geography
Black walnut typically grows as scattered individual trees or in small groups throughout the central and eastern parts of the United States. Although it is found on a variety of sites, black walnut grows best on good sites in coves and well-drained bottoms in the Appalachians and the Midwest.
Click here to see a map of where the Black Walnut can be found.
Uses
Black walnut contains high concentrations of chemicals called tannins, which can reduce pain and swelling and dry up body fluids such as mucous. People use black walnut to lower the risk of heart disease, for skin wounds, and for other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.
History
The black walnut originated in the eastern regions of North America before spreading west to occupy nearly every temperate region between New York and California. Today, black walnuts are an important commercial crop in the United States thanks to their unique flavor and popularity as a health food.
Fun Fact
The wild American Black Walnut is native to 32 states and is the official tree nut of Missouri, where the crop is most abundantly found.