Nature Bulletin No. 167-A   October 31, 1964
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Seymour Simon, President
Roberts Mann, Conservation Editor

****:WALNUTS

This has been a fruitful year for the white oaks and our native walnuts. 
Following the first hard frost, the walnut trees dropped their leaves 
and many were discovered to be loaded with nuts dangling from their 
twigs, single and in clusters of two or three. Many more had dropped 
and lay upon the ground beneath. This winter the squirrels will be well 
fed.

Each walnut is enclosed in a round thick pulpy juicy hull, light green 
and smooth on the outside, yellowish-green within. This hull is 
difficult to remove when green and leaves an indelible brown stain 
upon a person's skin, so that it is customary to gather the nuts and 
spread them upon an exposed flat surface, such as a shed roof, until 
the hull has become black and mushy. The nut within, almost 
spherical but slightly flattened, from 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter, has 
a very rough, thick hard shell. The kernel is very sweet and edible, 
with a rich oily flavor which makes it desirable for candies, ice cream 
and cakes.

There are three main groups of walnuts: the Persian, the East Asian 
and the American. The Persian, commonly called the English Walnut, 
is now grown in the United States, principally in California, and has 
been cultivated in many countries for centuries. It is of greater 
importance as a food crop than any other nut tree outside of the 
tropics. Its wood, too, has always been valued highly. The beautifully 
grained "Circassian Walnut" comes from this tree.

North and South America seem to be more richly endowed with nut-
bearing trees than any of the other continents. From South America we 
obtain the cashew and the Brazil nut, but there are larger finer 
relatives of the Brazil nut which we never see on the market, such as 
the macaw nuts, the cream nut, the Paradise nuts and the souri nuts. In 
the United States we have the chestnut, the beech, the hickories -- 
which include the pecan -- the oaks, the pinon pine of the western 
forests, and the walnuts.

Of the several species of native walnuts in North America, the most 
important is the Eastern Black Walnut, largest of them all and one of 
the noblest of all hardwoods. It grows throughout most of the United 
States east of the Rockies. It may live for centuries and, in the rich 
bottomlands of stream valleys, may grow to be 150 feet tall with a 
diameter from 4 to 6 feet. Its wood is rich dark brown in color, notable 
for its lasting qualities and freedom from warping or checking. In 
pioneer days, log cabins and even rail fences were built of black 
walnut. Its beauty of grain and ability to take a high polish have made 
it always a favorite for carving, interior finishing, furniture, pianos, 
caskets, and especially gunstocks. The demand for the latter in two 
world wars has resulted in a serious scarcity of trees of commercial 
size.

A close relative of the black walnut is our White Walnut, also called 
the Butternut because of the richer buttery flavor of the kernel. It is a 
smaller, less common tree, with smoother, lighter colored bark, and its 
wood, though beautifully grained, is less durable than that of the black 
walnut. The nuts are about twice as long as they are wide, in a thin 
pulpy hull that is covered with a sticky fuzz when green. These hulls 
yield a yellowish-brown dye commonly used in pioneer days to dye 
clothing, uniforms, blankets, carpets and rugs.

The beauties of autumn mean nutting to boys and squirrels.