Butternut |
General |
Common Name | Butternut |
Latin Name | Juglans cinerea |
Category | Nuts |
Family | Walnut |
Variety | |
Visual Traits |
Flower | yellow-green, monoecious, late May-early June, appears with leaves |
No Citation Available |
Foliage/Fall leaf color | golden yellow, early to mid Sep |
No Citation Available |
Fruit / Nut | fruit ripens Sep-Oct; nuts sweet and oily, occuring singly or clusters of 2-5; nut husk indehiscent, persistent through leaf fall |
No Citation Available |
Height | 40-60ft |
No Citation Available |
Other valued traits | maple-butternut candy |
No Citation Available |
Spread | 30-50ft |
No Citation Available |
Cultivation |
Pollination | flowers of both sexes do not usually mature simultaneously on single tree |
No Citation Available |
Propagation method | seed, grafting not well perfected |
No Citation Available |
Seed treatment and storage | cold stratification 90-120days at 68-86ºF |
No Citation Available |
Sowing seed | germinate early spring |
No Citation Available |
Transplant | transplant early, difficult to transplant, ball + burlap early spring |
No Citation Available |
Critters |
Insect and invertebrate pests | butternut curculio (Conotrachelus juglandis) |
No Citation Available |
Pathogens | butternut canker (Sirococcus clavigignenti-juglandacearum), bunch disease |
No Citation Available |
Toxicity | juglone concentrated in roots and nut husks inhibits associated vegetation |
No Citation Available |
Soils |
Compaction (tolerance) | intermediate |
No Citation Available |
Fertility / quality | seldom found in intertile soils |
No Citation Available |
Minerals | frequently associated with calcareous soils |
No Citation Available |
Moisture and drainage | requires deep, well-drained; seldom on dry or compact soils; drought intolerant |
No Citation Available |
pH | 6.0 - 7.0 |
No Citation Available |
Salt tolerance | intolerant |
No Citation Available |
Soils and topography | well-drained soils of hillsides, coves, and stream banks; higher altitudes than J. nigra |
No Citation Available |
Texture | moderately coarse loamy sands, medium loams to moderately fine silt loams |
No Citation Available |
Growth Pattern |
Good seed crop interval (fruit load) | 2-3y |
No Citation Available |
Growth rate | fast |
No Citation Available |
Longevity | short (less than 75y) |
No Citation Available |
Root habit | taproot, more fibrous and spreading on shallow soils |
No Citation Available |
Seed-bearing age /max production | 20y / 30-60y |
No Citation Available |
Habitat and Climate |
Fire tolerance | intolerant |
No Citation Available |
Frost-free days (FFD) | 105-210, more winter hardy than J. nigra |
No Citation Available |
Hardiness Zone | Zones 3-7 |
No Citation Available |
Native Range | Central to Eastern United States and Canada |
No Citation Available |
Rainfall / humidity | 25-80in |
No Citation Available |
Wind / ice / frost susceptibility | windfirm; subject to storm damage |
No Citation Available |
Light |
Light recommendation | full overhead sun |
No Citation Available |
Shade tolerance | intolerant; tolerant of shading on sides when young |
No Citation Available |
Vegetation Associations |
Competitive ability | poor competitor; tolerates shading from side, but performs best in overstory |
No Citation Available |
Indicator species and associated forest | mixed hardwood; mixed mesophytic |
No Citation Available |
Special Notes |
Note 1 | difficult to extract nut; cultivars selected by ease of cracking and nut size |
No Citation Available |