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Black Walnut

The National Champion Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) on Sauvie Island, Oregon.
Reference: "File:Sauvie island black walnut.JPG." Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. 15 Mar 2015, 23:45 UTC. 2 Nov 2019, 14:56 . 
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sauvie_island_black_walnut.JPG

Latin (group) name: Juglans
Latin (specific) name: Juglans Nigra Linnaeus
Average max height: 100'
Average diameter: Up to 3'
Official state tree: none
Category: American Woods
The Hardwoods - Broadleafs
Range map of the Black Walnut
Reference: "File:Juglans nigra range map 1.png." Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. 17 Nov 2016, 00:45 UTC. 2 Nov 2019, 15:45 . 
Attribution: Elbert Little, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and others [Public domain]



The Tree

The Black Walnut tree is one of the best known and most valuable of all forest trees native to the United States. It is of value not only because of its beautiful and highly prized wood but for its delicious nuts used in foods such as candy, bread, cakes, and ice cream. It is strictly an American tree, growing naturally nowhere else. It has been proposed frequently as our national tree and has been known for generations as the “tree of the gods and kings.” In 1945 a Black Walnut tree in Kentucky was sold alive for $1,500 and was cut up into veneers worth $35,000. The stumps of some large trees have been sold at fabulous prices for use as veneers. Black Walnut is usually a well-shaped tree of moderately rapid growth for a hardwood, and attains large size. It is not uncommon to find walnut trees 100 feet tall and three feet in diameter. The tree requires deep, rich, moist, but well drained soils. The bark is dark and rather deeply grooved. The leaves are one to two feet long, and have 15 to 23 narrow, sharply-toothed, slender-pointed leaflets. The nuts, which are one and one-eighth to one and one-half inches in diameter, have a very hard deeply grooved shell encased in a ball-like hull, from one and one-half to two inches in diameter, consisting of a black, thick pulp having a mottled, light green covering. The nuts within the pulp must be removed with care as the pulp stains everything it touches and is difficult to remove before it is thoroughly dried. A yellow dye is made from the bark, and husks of the nuts.

black walnut foliage and nuts
Black Walnut foliage and nuts
black walnut tree bark
Black Walnut tree bark
black walnut grove
Black Walnut Grove

Common Names in Use

  • Black Walnut (N.H., Vt., Mass. R.I., Conn., N.Y., N.J., Del., Pa., Va., W.Va., N.C., Tenn., Ga., Fla., Ala., Miss., Tex., La., Ark., Ky., Mo., Ind., Ill., Kans., Nebr., Iowa, Mich., Ohio, S.Dak., Minn., Ontario)
  • American Black Walnut (trade)
  • American Walnut (trade)
  • Dent-soo-kwa-no-ne "Round Nut" (N.Y. Indians)
  • Gun-Wood (trade)
  • Walnut (N.Y., Del., W.Va., Fla., Ky., Tenn., Mo., Ohio, Ind., Iowa)
  • Walnut-tree (Pa., S.C.)

Growth Range

The natural growth range of Black Walnut extends from Massachusetts to southern Ontario and central Nebraska southward throughout the eastern half of the United States, excepting the Atlantic coastal plain south of Virginia, the Gulf coast region, and the lower Mississippi Valley. It attains its best growth in the central portion of this range in deep, rich, moist and well-drained soils.

The Wood

The Black Walnut heartwood varies somewhat from light to dark chocolate brown with frequent alternate light and almost black stripes which produce very beautiful figured effects. The narrow sapwood is nearly white with a narrow shading into the darker heartwood and gradually turns darker upon exposure. This wood is hard, strong, works well with tools and is one of the most desirable and useful of all American woods. The darker the wood the more valuable it is, and for this reason it is a quite frequent practice to stain or steam the sapwood to match the heartwood. Also, the stain is sometimes forced through the entire board to produce the more valuable deep dark brown color. The crotches, burls and stumps produce exceptional figured and mottled designs and are very valuable for high quality veneers. The knots, crooks, irregular growth and curly or wavy grain, especially near the knots, produce handsome figures. In the burls of old mature trees the bird’s-eye effect on a glossy jet black to lighter shades of brown is frequently found. The wood finishes to a pleasing velvety sheen, glues satisfactorily, and polishes exceptionally well with all types of paint, stain, wax or other finishingmaterials. It holds its shape, and after being seasoned, shrinks or swells very little.

black walnut figure
Black Walnut Curly and Fiddle-Back Figure

Uses

Black Walnut is superior to all other woods for gun stocks because it keeps its shape, is comparatively light in weight, and absorbs recoil the best of all woods. The most important use of the lumber and of the beautiful figured veneers is in furniture, radio and television cabinets, sewing machines, wooden novelties and general mill-work. It is an especially desirable wood to work with all kinds of tools, and is a favorite wood in all Home Work Shops and Manual Training Schools. Walnut wood is so valuable that it is mainly cut into veneers. It is No.1 on the wood list of every woodworking shop.

black walnut canoe build
Black Walnut Canoe build
card storage
Black Walnut Card Box by Gerald Lawrence
cutting boards
Walnut Cutting Boards by Gerald Lawrence
dovetail box
Black Walnut dovetail box by Gerald Lawrence

walnut vessel
Black Walnut Hollow Form by Gerald Lawrence
recipe box
Black Walnut Recipe Box by Gerald Lawrence
ring containers
Black Walnut Ring Containers by Gerald Lawrence
bowl
Black Walnut Bowl by Lewis Kauffman

bowls
Black Walnut Bowls by Lewis Kauffman
candle stands and box
Black Walnut Candle Box by Lewis Kauffman
storage box
Black Walnut storage box by Lewis Kauffman
turned platter
Black Walnut turned platter by Lewis Kauffman

table top
Table by Lewis Kauffman
table top
Table by Lewis Kauffman



File References

  ID T Name Size Last modified Actions
466 Juglans Nigra (Linnaeus)
The National Champion Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) on Sauvie Island, Oregon.
Reference: "File:Sauvie island black walnut.JPG." Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. 15 Mar 2015, 23:45 UTC. 2 Nov 2019, 14:56 .
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sauvie_island_black_walnut.JPG
336.98 KB 11-02-2019
467 Black Walnut Range Map.png
Range map of the Black Walnut
Reference: "File:Juglans nigra range map 1.png." Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. 17 Nov 2016, 00:45 UTC. 2 Nov 2019, 15:45 .
Attribution: Elbert Little, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and others [Public domain]
218.34 KB 11-02-2019
464 Black Walnut Foliage And Nuts
Black Walnut with leaves and nuts.
Reference: Free Images : Forest, Branch, Fruit, Sunlight, Leaf, Flower, Food, Green, Jungle, Produce, Autumn, Botany, Garden, Flora, Shrub, Rainforest, Fruits, Deciduous, Timber, Edible, Ornamental Tree, Flowering Plant, Walnut Crop, Park Tree, Woody Plant, Land Plant, Plane Tree Family, Black Walnut, Juglandaceae, Juglans Nigra, Similar to Walnut 3264x2448 - - 1143896 - Free Stock Photos - PxHere. /en/photo/1143896. Accessed 2 Nov. 2019.
633.50 KB 11-02-2019
465 Black Walnut tree bark
Black Walnut tree bark
Reference: "File:Black Walnut Bark Detail.JPG." Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. 24 Dec 2018, 12:44 UTC. 2 Nov 2019, 14:47 .
Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Black_Walnut_Bark_Detail.JPG
579.01 KB 11-02-2019
468 Page 100 Schoonover
Black Walnut Grove in Indiana (page 100 of American Woods)
Reference: Reference: Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA
581.87 KB 11-03-2019
469 Page 102 Schoonover
Black Walnut Curly and Fiddle-Back Figure (page 102 of American Woods)
Reference: Reference: Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA
395.44 KB 11-03-2019
470 Black Walnut Canoe
A black walnut canoe during construction
Reference: creativelenna. Wee Lassie Canoe Thwart -Black Walnut. 28 Apr. 2013. Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/creativelenna/8697833708/.
188.26 KB 11-03-2019
471 Black Walnut Card Box
Black Walnut playing card storage box by Gerald Lawrence
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
372.03 KB 11-08-2019
472 Black Walnut Cutting Boards
Cutting boards with Black Walnut strips by Gerald Lawrence
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
48.53 KB 11-08-2019
473 Black Walnut Dovetail Box
Box with Black Walnut dovetailed sides by Gerald Lawrence
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
277.11 KB 11-08-2019
474 Black Walnut Hollow Vessel
Black Walnut hollow form by Gerald Lawrence
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
34.07 KB 11-08-2019
475 Black Walnut Recipe Box
Black Walnut recipe box by Gerald Lawrence
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
464.13 KB 11-08-2019
476 Black Walnut Ring Boxes
Black Walnut ring storage containers by Gerald Lawrence
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
177.65 KB 11-08-2019
477 Black Walnut Bowl
Black Walnut turned bowl by Lewis Kauffman
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
285.35 KB 11-08-2019
478 Black Walnut Bowls
A stack of Black Walnut bowls turned on a lathe by Lewis Kauffman
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
253.95 KB 11-08-2019
479 Black Walnut Candle Box And Stands
Black Walnut turned candle stands and storage box by Lew Kauffman
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
35.42 KB 11-08-2019
480 Black Walnut Candle Box
Black Walnut candle box with raised panel lid by Lew Kauffman
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
156.28 KB 11-08-2019
481 Black Walnut Platter
Black Walnut turned platter by Lewis Kauffman
222.02 KB 11-08-2019
482 Black Walnut Table Top
Black Walnut table top by Lewis Kauffman
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
142.47 KB 11-08-2019
483 Black Walnut Table
Black Walnut table by Lewis Kauffman
Reference: (n.d.). Home - The Patriot Woodworker. The Patriot Woodworker. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/
39.21 KB 11-08-2019

Bibliography


  • Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA 


Contributors to this page: admin and John Morris .
Page last modified on Sunday July 24, 2022 16:52:31 PDT by admin.