Juglans regia - Walnut

Walnut is a large, deciduous tree attaining heights of 25-35 m, and a trunk up to 2 m diameter, commonly with a short trunk and broad crown, though taller and narrower in dense forest competition. The bark is smooth, olive-brown when young and silvery-grey on older branches, and features scattered broad fissures with a rougher texture. Like all walnuts, the pith of the twigs contains air spaces; this chambered pith is brownish in color. The leaves are alternately arranged, 25-40 cm long, odd-pinnate with 5-9 leaflets, paired alternately with one at branch-ends leaflet. The largest leaflets are the three at the tip, 10-18 cm long and 6-8 cm broad; the basal pair of leaflets are much smaller, 5-8 cm long, with the margins of the leaflets entire. The male flowers are in drooping catkins 5-10 cm long, and the female flowers are at branch-ends, in clusters of two to five, ripening in the autumn into a fruit with a green, semi-fleshy husk and a brown, corrugated nut. The whole fruit, including the husk, falls in autumn; the seed is large, with a relatively thin shell, and edible, with a rich flavour. Walnut is found in West Asia, W. China and the Himalayas, at altitudes of 1000-3300 m.