Juglans cinerea, butternut
Coladonato, Milo 1991. Juglans cinerea, butternut. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/jugcin
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | ||||
| JUGCIN | butternut | Juglans cinerea | Life Form: Plants/Tree Kingdom: Plantae Class: Dicot Order: Juglandales Family: Juglandaceae Genus: Juglans | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Taxonomy
The currently accepted scientific name for butternut is Juglans cinerea L. [16]. Butternut and black walnut (Juglans nigra) are very similar, but can be distinguished by certain morphological differences. Butternut has a pad of small dense hairs extending crosswise along the upper margin of the old leaf scars; in black walnut this pad is absent. The underside leaflets of butternut are densely covered with stellate hairs, while in black walnut leaflet hairs are almost inconspicuous [31].
Recognized hybrids are as follows [24]:
- J. cinerea x J. regia = J. X quadrangulata
- J. cinerea x J. ailantifolia = J. X bixbi
Reports of crosses between butternut and black walnut have not been substantiated [24].
Synonyms
- None
Other Common Names
white walnut, oilnut
General Distribution
Butternut is distributed from southeastern New Brunswick throughout the New England States except for northern Maine and Cape Cod. Its range extends south to include northern New Jersey, western Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee. Small isolated pockets occur in North Carolina, northwestern South Carolina, northern Georgia, northern Alabama, northern Mississippi, and Arkansas. Westward it is found in eastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. Disjunct populations occur in Wisconsin, Michigan, and northeast into Ontario and Quebec. Throughout most of its range, butternut is not a common tree and its frequency is declining. The ranges of butternut and black walnut overlap, but butternut occurs farther north than and not as far south as black walnut [3,26,30].
Butternut is cultivated in Hawaii [33].
States and Provinces
- United States: AL AR CT DE GA HI IA IL IN KY MA MD ME MI MN MO MS NC NH NJ NY OH PA RI SC TN VA VT WI WV
- Canada: NB ON PQ
Site Characteristics
Butternut is found most frequently in coves, on stream benches and terraces, on slopes, in the talus of rock ledges, and on other sites with good drainage [20,28]. It is found up to an elevation of 4,900 feet (1,500 m) in the Virginias [27,31]. In addition to those indicated in Table A1 (SAF Cover Types), common tree associates include black walnut (Juglans nigra), hickory (Carya spp.), and white ash (Fraxinus americana) [1,3,20,21,24,27].
Plant Communities
No entry.
Botanical Description
Butternut with male and female flowers.
Butternut is a small to medium-sized tree averaging 40 to 60 feet (12-18 m) in height and 12 to 24 inches (30-60 cm) in d.b.h. This tree has a short trunk which is divided into a few ascending limbs with large spreading, sparsely forked branches. The smaller branches tend to bend downwards and then turn up at the ends. The crown is open, broad, irregular in outline and rounded at the top. The root system is composed of a number of wide-spreading laterals that grow to a considerable depth. Usually a taproot develops in deep soils [7,21,24]. Butternut grows fast, especially as a seedling, but usually does not live longer than 75 years [5,21,24].
Raunkiaer Life Form (Raunkiaer 1934)
- Phanerophyte
Seasonal Development
Butternut flowers from April to June, depending on location. The fruit matures in September and October and usually remains on the tree until after leaf fall [4,12].
Regeneration Processes
Seed production and dispersal
Commercial seed-bearing age begins at 20 years and is optimum from 30 to 60 years. Good crops of seed can be expected every 2 to 3 years. A high percentage of seeds are sound, but high seed losses occur due to consumption by birds, insects, and rodents. Natural pollination failures often occur due to the lack of pollinated trees in immediate vicinity [4,24]. Upon ripening, seeds are dispersed by gravity, squirrels, and other rodents. [9,24].
Butternut with nuts developing.
Vegetative propagation
Stumps of young butternut trees and saplings can sprout [4,32].
Successional Status
Although young trees can tolerate partial shade, butternut must be in the overstory to thrive and is classified as intolerant to shade and competition [11]. Like other members of the Juglandaceae family, butternut produces a substance called juglone, a naphthoquinone that is selectively toxic to associated vegetation. Greatest concentrations of juglone are in root tissue and fruit husks, with lesser amounts in the leaves, catkins, buds, and inner bark [24].
Immediate Fire Effects
Butternut does not typically survive fires that destroy aboveground plant parts [24].
Postfire Regeneration Strategy (Stickney 1989)
- survivor species; on-site surviving deep underground stems
- off-site colonizer; seed carried by animals or water; postfire yr 1&2
Fire Adaptations
Butternut is very susceptible to fire. Aboveground portions are easily killed by fire, and sprouting from the root crown or stump is rare [24,32].
Plant Response to Fire
Butternut does not typically sprout after fire [22,24,32].
Fire Regimes
For fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name or acronym on the home page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
Fire Management Considerations
Butternut grows well in mixed hardwood forests that have been protected from fire [22]. A single hot fire or repeated cool fires can effectively eliminate butternut in mixed hardwood stands [32].
Federal Status
None
Other Status
No entry.
Importance to Wildlife and Livestock
Butternut fruit provides food for squirrels and other rodents [4,30].
Palatability and Nutritional Value
Butternut leaves are palatable to white-tailed deer [30].
Cover Value
No entry.
Value for Rehabilitation or Restoration of Disturbed Sites
Butternut has been recommended for planting on surface mined areas in the Northeast [6].
Other Uses
Several cultivars have been selected for nut size and for ease of cracking and extracting kernels. Nuts are especially popular in New England for making maple-butternut candy [24].
An iodine-like yellow dye can be extracted from the fruit husks and bark, and the root bark provides a laxative [14].
Wood Products Value: Butternut is not an important lumber species. The wood is soft and suitable only for a few uses such as interior finishing, furniture, cabinet work, and small household woodenware [14].
Other Management Considerations
Within its optimum range and on good sites, butternut is usually considered a desirable component of forest stands. It has been classified as a "less desirable tree" in southern Appalachian coves [1,13,19].
The most serious disease of butternut is butternut decline or butternut canker. The causal organism of this disease is the fungus Sirococcus clavigignenti-juglandocearum. Symptoms include dying branches and stems. Spores develop on these dying branches and are spread by rainwater to tree stems. Stem cankers develop 1 to 3 years after branches die. Trees top-killed by stem-girdling cankers do not resprout [24]. This disease is reported to have almost eliminated butternut from North and South Carolina [2,18,25].
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems (Garrison et al. 1977)
- FRES10 White - red - jack pine
- FRES11 Spruce - fir
- FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
- FRES14 Oak - pine
- FRES15 Oak - hickory
- FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
- FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
BLM Physiographic Regions (Bernard and Brown 1977)
- No entry.
Kuchler Plant Associations (Kuchler 1964)
- K095 Great Lakes pine forest
- K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
- K097 Southereastern spruce - fir forest
- K099 Maple - basswood forest
- K100 Oak - hickory
- K101 Elm - ash forest
- K102 Beech - maple forest
- K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
- K104 Appalachian oak forest
- K106 Northern hardwoods
- K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
- K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
- K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
- K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 14 Northern pin oak
- 20 White pine - northern red oak - red maple
- 21 Eastern white pine
- 22 White pine - hemlock
- 23 Eastern hemlock
- 24 Hemlock - yellow birch
- 25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
- 26 Sugar maple - basswood
- 27 Sugar maple
- 28 Black cherry - maple
- 30 Red spruce - yellow birch
- 31 Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
- 32 Red spruce
- 33 Red spruce - balsam fir
- 34 Red spruce - Fraser fir
- 42 Bur oak
- 43 Bear oak
- 44 Chestnut oak
- 45 Pitch pine
- 46 Eastern redcedar
- 50 Black locust
- 51 White pine - chestnut oak
- 52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
- 53 White oak
- 55 Northern red oak
- 57 Yellow poplar
- 59 Yellow poplar - white oak - northern red oak
- 60 Beech - sugar maple
- 62 Silver maple - American elm
- 108 Red maple
- 109 Hawthorn
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
- No entry.
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