SCIENTIFIC NAME: Juglans nigra

COMMON NAME: black walnut

LEAVES: Odd and even pinnately compound leaf with up to 23 leaflets. Pubescent under leaflet. Big leaf scar. Valvate buds. Yellow fall color.

FRUIT: Round like a basketball and very hard. Edible.

BARK: Black ridge and furrowed.

OTHER: Pith is light colored and chambered. Grows 60' to 90' tall. Native to dry sites in the eastern United States. Wood is prized and is very expensive. In some places individual trees have been auctioned off. Because the wood is so valuable walnut rustlers have become a real problem in parts of this country. Hard to transplant due to a taproot. Roots secrete chemicals that inhibit other plants from growing near the tree (allelopathy).