Castle Howard Arboretum Trust - Furniture Makers Trees

Botanical name: Juglans regia

Family: Juglandaceae

Common Name: European Walnut

Habitat and Distribution:

A native of valleys and stream banks from S.E. Europe and across the Himalayas to China.

Probably introduced to Britain by the Romans, date uncertain.

Description:

A deciduous tree, attaining a height of about 30 m (100 ft) and a trunk thickness of up to 2 m.

A broad crown of sinuous branches spreads above a smooth grey barked bole. On a mature tree the bark has wide, deep cracks. The leaves, which are bronze on emergence change to dull, dark yellow-green leaves, which are divided, into 5-9 short-pointed leaflets. They are aromatic when bruised, smelling curiously like shoe polish. Tiny flowers, males in catkins about 5-10 cm (2-4 in) and females flask-shaped at the shoot tips are borne on the same plant in May-June. These are later followed by edible nuts, which are enclosed in a smooth, thick fleshy case.

Normally grown from seed, selected cultivars, propagated vegetatively, are grown for their early fruiting and quality of their nuts.

Timber:

Walnut is named according to its origin as English, French, Italian, Circassian or Persian walnut. Walnut is typically smoky, pinkish grey-brown, streaked with darker markings, but colour varies according to origin. It often has an attractive rippled figure, especially where the buttressed trunk meets the roots. When seasoned, walnut is very strong, hard, durable and exceptionally stable. Walnut used in solid usually comes from branch wood, or trunks too small to be cut into veneer.

The timber matures in 80-100 years

Location within the arboretum:

A pair of specimens is located on the Furniture Makers walk, about half way down.

Furniture Makers Trees at The Arboretum - Kew at Castle Howard

Uses:

Used in solid for chairs, early country tables, for turning and carving, but because of its high cost is most often used as veneers for wardrobes, dressing tables, cabinets and for the fascias of cars, notably Rolls Royce.

Really large butts are used for veneers, which, if they can be pattern-matched, fetch very high prices. The rare burred walnut is also very expensive.

Walnut veneers were used in the finest William and Mary, Queen Anne and George 1^st furniture and again in the mid 19^th century for some of the best Victorian cabinets and tables.

Walnut, in solid, is also used to produce the stocks for the finest sporting guns.

Walnuts have been used since Greek times as food. They are used now in cakes and pastries, salads, meat, poultry, fish and pasta dishes and as “pickled walnuts” considered a delicacy. They can be an important part of a vegetarian diet. The oil is delicious on salads and pasta.

A liqueur is made in France from the husks and nut-flavoured wines can be found in several countries.

The leaves and outer green husks are deadly poisons for fish and most animals.

The outer husks have been used to make a dark brown natural dye.

The nuts provide food for many woodland mammals, birds and insects