Second Season Butternuts (Juglans cinerea) Year One Seedling Tree

Butternuts/white walnuts (Juglans cinerea) are a prized and increasingly rare tree in the US landscape as the trees suffer from an introduced and catastrophic illness  (Ophiognomonia clavigignenti-juglandacearum). Also known as the "white walnut" the tree produces a more mild flavor and thinner shell than the black walnut. The US forest service has market butternut as a "species at risk" making replanting critical for genetic diversity. Each butternut planted could be the key to finding/encouraging a resistant butternut. 

Planting Information 

Butternuts favor cooler climates and grow large well into the most northern range.  Most trees grow to 60-100 feet in height. Ideally planted in zone 3-7.  Little is fully understood about their ideal growing conditions, we follow black walnut recommendations when planting.

Fruiting Information

Nuts from our parent tree are mild tasting and produces every year. Often mistaken as black walnuts white walnuts are found pushing northern zone limits. They are commonly found in Canada and at the edges of black walnuts range. Butternuts regularly hybridize with Japanese walnuts. A true northern trees they have a special place in cold temperate forests as they will fruit through late frosts. 

Benefits 

Because of disease concerns butternut is not recommended for commercial applications but rather conservation planting.  We are always looking for amazing butternuts as they are so rare and hard to find please contact us if you have a special walnut tree you think should be propagated (LINK). Help play a role in saving this important tree but replating and promoting hybridization. 

* Special Project Note

If you have a butternut on your property please email Aziz Ebrahimi, Ph.D. (he/him). Aziz is a Post-doctoral Fellow currently studying the butternut. As an USDA-NIFA post-doctoral researcher at Purdue University, he is currently studying the genome of butternut conducting landscape genetics research that requires a diverse range of genotypes from across the butternut's range. If you have access to a butternut collection in NY state or know anyone who can assist me in collecting leaves from the northeastern states of NY, PA, NH, and Maine, please email Aziz: Email: aebrahi@purdue.edu