The butternut or sometimes called white walnut, is a native Iowa tree in the walnut family as the name suggests. While known for its nut production, it does produce very high quality lumber that was prized by my father. A similar grain to black walnut but with a lighter tint, I was able to get a few boards from his estate.
The nuts are elongated or egg-shaped rather that round like a black walnut. In about 25 years we might be able to harvest a few nuts. The hard outer shell of the butternut is rough and a bit sharp. It's not recommended to walk barefoot. Not that I would walk barefoot when I haven't eradicated the thistle or wild parsnip.
My brother gave me over 60 nuts that were viable and I planted 50 on Sunday spaced among the walnuts and potted the rest. In about 70 years, if they stay free from the butternut canker and survive squirrels eating the nuts, rabbits clipping off the tops or deer rubbing them to death, they should make a good supply of logs.
This makes our first official planting of 2016 and a new native Iowa species that we introduced to the farm.
Benches in the Old Capitol are made of butternut. Probably hard to sneak one out...nice to look at, though!
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