ABSTRACT
The black walnut is a native of eastern North America, from Massachusetts west through southern Ontario to southern Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas and the Florida Panhandle. Black walnut sometimes reaches 50 m in height, and may develop a trunk diameter of 2 m. Black walnuts are very strong in flavor and can overpower a recipe, so that some cooks blend one part black walnut to three parts English walnuts in recipes. The demand for both black walnuts and black walnut timber exceeds the supply. Native North Americans used black walnut extensively as food, and the nuts have been found at several archeological sites in the upper Great Lakes region dating back to 2000 BC. Thin-shelled cultivars of black walnut, from which the kernels could easily be extracted, have not been adequately developed. Black walnut is prized for its durable, easily worked wood, which has an attractive straight grain pattern.
