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Walnuts (genus Juglans) are plants in the family Juglandaceae. They are deciduous trees, 10 - 40 metres tall, with pinnate leaves 200 - 900 millimetres long, with 5 - 25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts (Pterocarya) but not the hickories (Carya) in the same family.
The 21 species in the genus range across the north temperate Old World from southeast Europe east to Japan, and more widely in the New World from southeast Canada west to California and south to Argentina. The Latin name Juglans derives from Jovis glans, Jupiters nuts, the nut fit for a god.
Walnuts are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Brown-tail, Common Emerald, Emperor Moth, The Engrailed and the Coleophora case-bearers C. laticornella (recorded on J. nigra) and C. pruniella.
The word walnut derives from Old English wealhhnutu, literally foreign nut, wealh meaning foreign (wealh is akin to the terms Welsh and Vlach; see Walha and History of the term Vlach). The walnut was so called because it was introduced from Gaul and Italy. The previous Latin name for the walnut was nux Gallica, Gallic nut.
Cultivation and uses
The two most commercially important species are J. regia for timber and nuts, and J. nigra for timber. Both species have similar cultivation requirements and are widely grown in temperate zones.
Walnuts are light-demanding species that benefit from protection from wind. Walnuts are also very hardy against water.
Interplanting walnut plantations with a nitrogen fixing plant such as Elaeagnus × ebbingei or E. umbellata, and various Alnus species results in a 30% increase in tree height and girth (Hemery 2001).
Walnut species are deep rooted and already play an important role in slope stabilisation, for example, in the Himalayas. Some species may become more suited to northerly climes with climate changing, becoming more productive for both timber and nuts (in the British Isles and northerly US states, for example. Their dark quality hardwood is potentially a valuable domestic timber for temperate areas and therefore an alternative source timber to that of tropical sources such as Mahogany. Fast-grown hybrid walnut may produce a viable wood product for wood energy systems under Short Rotation Forestry.