The Butternut (Juglans cinerea), also occasionally known as the White Walnut, is a species of walnut native to the eastern United States and southeast Canada, from southern Quebec west to Minnesota, south to northern Alabama and southwest to northern Arkansas. It is a deciduous tree growing to 20 m tall, rarely 30 m, and 40-80 cm stem diameter, with light gray bark. The leaves are pinnate, 40-70 cm long, with 11-17 leaflets, each leaflet 5-10 cm long and 3-5 cm broad. The whole leaf is downy-pubescent, and a somewhat brighter, yellower green than many other tree leaves. The flowers are inconspicuous yellow-green catkins produced in spring at the same time as the new leaves appear. The fruit is a nut, produced in bunches of 2-6 together; the nut is oblong-ovoid, 3-6 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, surrounded by a green husk before maturity in mid autumn.
The Butternut is seriously threatened by an introduced canker disease, caused by the fungus Sirococcus clavigigenti-juglandacearum. In some areas, 80% of the Butternut trees have been killed.
Uses
The nuts are usually used in baking and making candies, having an oily texture and pleasant flavor. The husks are also used to make a yellowish dye.
Butternut wood is light and takes polish well, but is of much lower quality than Black Walnut wood. It is often used to make furniture.
Butternut, as a color, refers to a light yellowish brown. For instance, the color of a cooked butternut squash. Many soldiers of the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War wore uniforms in this color and were sometimes referred to as "butternuts".
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