Native North American Nut Trees

Enlarge Image Image Gallery

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

black walnut

The black walnut, one of our most valued hardwoods, is found over most of the eastern half of the United States from southern New England to southern Georgia. The tree is a majestic sight, towering 70 to 100 feet and covered with graceful sprays of leaflets. If you have one on your land, treasure it . . . they're becoming scarce.

The heavy wood is prized for cabinetmaking and is the traditional material for fine gunstocks. The sap of both this species and the butternut can be boiled into syrup and sugar. Walnut bark is useful in tanning, and the husks around the nuts yield a long-lasting yellow-brown dye (as you'll learn if you get the juice on your skin).

Lovers of wild foods look forward to October and November, when the black walnut's big green globes drop to the ground. The rind is tenacious and not easy to strip from the freshly gathered nut... but the delicious harvet is worth the effort.

beech

The beech is a large tree—60 to 80 feet-high—with smooth gray bark and oval leaves. It's a familiar part of the hardwood forest and also a popular shade and ornamental species. Very handsome it is, too, especially in the fall when the foliage turns gold or dark copper. Beeches are found from southern Canada to east Texas and south to Florida, but bear more nuts in the northern part of their range.

The hard, strong wood of the beech is made into tool handles, shoe lasts, woodenware, veneer and inexpensive furniture. The inner bark has been dried, ground and used for flour in lean times. Mattresses used to be stuffed with the leaves, which are springy and last for several seasons.

The tree bears small, four-part, bristly burrs that ripen around October and open to reveal two triangular nuts. The kernels are tiny, but sweet and nourishing. Roasted and ground, they're said to make a pleasing coffee substitute.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print