Juglans nigra

Black walnut, leaves and fruits

The black walnut ( Juglans nigra ) is a plant from the family of the walnut family ( Juglandaceae ). The black walnut grows in eastern North America and in Texas, where it serves as a supplier of timber. Its fruits are edible. In Europe it is used as an ornamental tree or as a base for refined walnut trees.

Description

The black walnut is a 20 to 30 meter high tree. It has pinnate leaves, each with twelve or more paired, ovate lanceolate, toothed, lower side soft -haired fine flakes. The maximum growth rate may be up to 1.13 meters per year.

The fruit is a round, smooth nut with four partitions and not buchtigem embryo.

Dissemination

The black walnut has its natural range in the eastern half of the United States. In 1900, black walnut trees were settled in the Rhine and Donauauwäldern, today it creates an appreciable stocks.

Ingredients

The black walnut contains polyphenols, tannins, naphthoquinone as juglone and hydrojuglon - glycoside. Essential oil, fatty acids and alkanes. Juglone causes the blackening of the dying plant organs, it has a phytotoxic effect on bystanders plants and is toxic to fish and mushrooms.

Use

The black walnut is an impressive park tree when he is free. Then he developed a powerful, round crown. Recently, the black walnut is cultivated also in forestry. The wood is used for making furniture, carving and turning.

Through the use of special crackers can open the hard shell of stone fruit. The released embryos are used in the USA in confectionery and in the production of ice cream. The embryo is rich in fatty oils.