Butternut - Juglans cinerea

Juglandaceae - Walnut Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 55
Butternut
Juglans cinerea


Spring

The Butternut Tree.  Photo by Dean Gulstad.  www.flickr.com

The Butternut tree is in the same family as the Walnut tree, the Juglan family.  The Butternut tree has compound, alternate leaves, that have 11 - 17 or so leaflets.  There is an end leaflet on each leaf and the underside of these leaflets are fuzzy.   The oily, delicious nuts are an important food source for many small mammals.

Noyer cendré 03-B, a photo by Paupaulo on Flickr.

Summer

This Butternut tree is located at the Botanical Gardens of Asheville.
http://ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

The leaves are starting to become quite "fall-like". Today, there was a crispness to the air and the sky was so beautiful and blue; I felt the nearness of the fall season all around me. As I type this evening, I can hear the sounds of insects singing loudly. This is the sound of late summer turning into fall.
Becky -  August 2010

Fall

The Butternut Tree
This tree lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens by the creek at the end of Sycamore meadow. www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

All the leaves have fallen from the tree and all the nuts as well.  The tree is beautiful in fall's light.
Becky - November 30, 2010


Winter

This Butternut tree lives on a hillside at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.  My daughter and I went looking for the Butternut trees at the Botanical Gardens and found them with the help of Sarah, the garden manager and Roots,  Horticulturist, at the Botanical Gardens.

The Butternut is a wonderful species! Unfortunately, 3 of the butternuts on the property were lost due to Hurricane Helene. Cherokee carvers and basket makers.  They will make use of the wood from the ones that fell.  The Butternut is a traditional craft tree for the Cherokee.  That is a silver lining, knowing the trees live on in art.

Of the remaining butternuts, three are on a steep section of creekbank right along Broadway, so it is not safe or accessible to approach. Others are on the slope to the right-hand side of the entry path between the parking lot and green bridge (to the right side of the visitor center). They are not marked with a label.  If you can't find them, you can swing by the front desk and ask a volunteer for help.

For the love of the trees,
Becky

March 2026