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| A cluster of 2 Black Walnuts |
This weekend’s high winds knocked many of
the Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) out of the trees and prompted me scurry around
like a squirrel and stash a bunch of nuts for the winter. Continuing in the vein
of last month’s posts on Manchurian
Walnut (Juglans mandshurica)
and Japanese
Walnut (Juglans ailantifolia var. cordiformis), I thought I would start
with a detailed description of the species.
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| Deep braided fissures of Black Walnut bark |
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| Notice the fine hairs in the vein axils |
Black Walnuts are the largest of 6
species of walnut that are native to North America, often reaching 130 feet
tall. They are frequently planted outside of their native central and eastern
US range, and it not uncommon to find them scattered throughout our region,
especially east of the Cascades next to farmhouses, and in parks and yards. Black
Walnuts have brownish grey bark with braided fissures. Twigs are also brownish
grey with sporadic small lenticels and heart shaped leaf scars. The pinnately
compound leaves are 8 to 24 inches long with slightly hairy petioles,
especially near the base. Each leaf usually has 15 to 19 lanceolate leaflets
that range from 2-6 inches long and roughly ¼ as wide. The terminal leaflet is very
small and sometimes absent. Leaflets are often slightly curved and have
serrated margins; the upper surfaces are smooth except for small scattered
hairs on the veins, and lower leaf surfaces are minutely hairy, but more conspicuously
so at the axils of the leaf veins. Fruits are spherical, 1.5-3 inches wide, and
are typically found in clusters of 1 or 2 but sometimes in groups of 3.
According to the US Forest Service Silvics
Manual, Black Walnuts do not produce heavily until they are over 20 to 30
years old, at which point you can anticipate good nut crops 2 out of every 5
years. They fall in September and October about the same time as leaf drop, and
I think they look like small green tennis balls before their hulls blacken and shrivel.
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| Several bags worth of walnuts in a pile |
I have never been able to collect Black Walnuts in very
large quantities, but this year I found an irresistible tree only 3 blocks away
from my house that had dropped a thick layer of walnuts all over the street and sidewalk. I
grabbed a large paper bag and my camera and headed down the street to pick. 5
minutes later, my bag was full! I dumped it out in a pile and filled it up
again… and again… and again. In just a few hours, I could have easily filled my
pickup truck with walnuts from just one tree if I had permission from all the
adjacent landowners and if all the walnuts were on the ground.
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| The husks break off easily when you stomp on them. |
Already having more than a year’s
supply, I stopped collecting and started processing. I spread the walnuts out on
the concrete and stomped on them to break open their green husks and reveal their
fissured walnut shells. The husks are very resinous and quickly stained my
hands, shoes, and anything else that touched them, an iodine color. I spread my
Black Walnuts out on baking sheets to slowly dry in the shell. In a few months,
I will crack them with a hammer and do a taste comparison with the other
species of walnuts that I have been fortunate enough to collect this year.
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After removing the husk I lay my walnuts on a baking sheet to dry
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| Husk, shell, and nutmeat comparison for 3 species of walnut |
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