Uncultivated Nuts of Forest Service The United States Agriculture Information Bulletin Number 450 Arnold Krochmal Connie Krochmal Pî f3 3 i-O CO D OJ U TJ 1 ■> li> en 0 h- < 0 CM c 0 o £ Q -ce ■y^ CCÎ CD .si <r CO T— ■¿i a _,i 0 CO < 0 0» D 2: I— HJ Figure 1.—Cherokee woman pounding nuts with wooden mortar and pestle (courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, Neg. No. 55, 445). Uncultivated Nuts of The United States by Arnold Krochmal, Economic Botanist, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, Asheville, N.C., and Connie Krochmal, Volunteer Writer United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service june 1982 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 81-600067 Krochmal, Arnold; Krochmal, Connie. Uncultivated nuts of the United States. Agrie. Info. Bull. 450. Washington, DC : U.S. Department of Agri- culture; 1982.89 p. A handbook of nuts and nutlike seeds from trees and shrubs that are not cultivated in orchards but generally grow wild or that are sometimes grown as ornamentals. Descriptions, illustrations, and range maps help the reader to identify species. The nuts and seeds are also discussed as a renewable resource of present or potential use to human beings. KEYWORDS: Nutrition, renewable resources. Acknowledgments Study materials and samples were provided by David Stoller of the Cornell Plantations and Harold Grelen, Lisle Green, Franklin Bonner, Rudolph Strothmann, Douglas Roy, and David Priester, all of the Forest Service. Herbarium specimens and information on distribution and nomenclature were made available by Frederick Meyer and Peter Mazzeo, U.S. National Arboretum; Stanwyn Shetler, Smithsonian Institution; Carol Keener, Pennsylvania State University; Gene Wofford, University of Tennessee; Daniel Ward, University of Florida; John Freeman, Auburn University; L. J. Uttal, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Ronald Stukey, Ohio State University; Linda Radar, West Virginia University; James Massey, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Eileen Schofield and Mark Welter, New York Botanical Garden; Charles Feddema, Forest Service; Nancy C. Coile, Univer- sity of Georgia; and Janice Beatley, University of Cincinnati. Taxonomic usage follows regional sources, as listed in the bibliography. Leslie Deane, Alan Link, and YACC enrollee Darían Kuchen helped to prepare distri- bution maps. YACC enrollees Cindy Neal and Faith Verigan assisted in the preparation of the final manuscript. The illustrations on pages 3,48,49, and 56 were done by Sarah Kahlden Arendaleand appear in the book by Robert A. Vines, Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines of the South- west, © 1960 by Robert A. Vines, published by the University of Texas Press in Austin, Tex. /// Contents Introduction 1 Fannily Anacardiaceae Pistacia texana Swingle, Texas pistache 3 Family Betulaceae Genus Carpinus L, hornbeam 4 Genus Corylus L, hazelnut 6 Family Fagaceae Genus Castanea Mill., chestnut 9 Genus Castanopsis (D. Don) Spach, chinkapin 16 Genus Fagus L, beech 19 Genus Lithocarpus Blume, tanoak 23 Genus Quercus L, oak 25 Family Ginkgoaceae Ginkgo biloba L, ginkgo 27 Family Hippocastanaceae Genus >4escu/us L., buckeye 29 Family Juglandaceae Genus Carya, Nutt., hickory 37 Genus luglans L., walnut 51 Family Lauraceae Umbellularia californica (Hook. & Arn.) Nutt., California-laurel 59 Family Pinaceae Genus Pinus L., pine 61 Family Rosaceae Genus Prunus L., plum 70 Family Santalaceae Pyrularia púbera Michx., buffalo nut 71 Family Sapindaceae Genus Sapindus L, soapberry 72 Family Staphyleaceae Genus Staphylea L., bladdernut 73 Nutritional Values 75 Glossary 76 Bibliography 83 Index 87 IV Introduction This publication on nuts and nutlike seeds of present or potential use to people has been written for those who are interested in the world of plants as it relates to our welfare. It serves as a guide to the plants that produce a renewable, potentially usable resource. The descriptions are simplified and, with the illustrations, will help the reader identify a particular species. The maps showing species distribution will also help with identification. In this book, we have dealt with those trees and shrubs that are not cultivated in or- chards, but generally grow wild, and are sometimes used in landscaping and as or- namentals. A discussion of what a nut is will be helpful. Generally, nuts and the much smaller nutlets are fruits characterized by having a hard shell and one embryo. However, like the horsechestnut and the chestnut, which are usually considered to be nuts, some nuts have two and sometimes three embryos. Surrounding the nut is the husk. Walnuts have a thin, soft husk outside of the hard shell; acorns have an incomplete husk covering one-half or less of the acorn; and the chestnut has a very spiny husk. Another large category of so-called horticultural nuts are nutlike seeds, the most fa- miliar example of which is the pine nut or pignolia. In this case, the pine cone is the equivalent of a fruit with many individual hard-shelled seeds, each with a single embryo. Another example of a nutlike seed is the drupe, or fleshy fruit, such as the almond. The soapberry, Sapindus, is also in the group; its husk is soft when fresh, but later dries to form a hard shell. Finally, all nuts are indéhiscent, which means they do not split open when mature, as bean pods do. Readers will note that only one oak is described, the turkey oak. We describe it sepa- rately because its acorns are said to be poisonous, although we have not found any published data to support this belief. Because there are so many kinds of oaks in the United States, an effort to describe each one would require another volume. The information on uses was derived from the sources given in the bibliography, as well as from our combined professional and personal experiences working in various parts of the United States over a period of 33 years for Arnold, and somewhat less for Connie. Where the uses of nuts are not discussed, information is incomplete. The common names are those most widely used where the plants occur. For those who spend time in our forests, a marvelous resource of the Nation, this book can serve as an introduction to the bounty of nature and to the world of nuts—a renew- able resource whose continuity depends on the protection and development of all forests—National, State, and privately owned. Family Anacardíaceae Pistacia texana Swingle Texas pistache Habitat. Occurs on rocky limestone streambeds or stone cliffs in Val Verde and Bexar Counties, Texas. The range of this species is small, and it is not abundant within that area. Plant. This large shrub or small tree may reach 10 m (33 ft) in height. Several trunks often arise from the base. The compound, 5- to 10-cm-long (2 to 4 in) and 2.5- to 6-cm-wide (1 to 23/8 in) leaves are flattened and stalked, with four to nine pairs of lateral leaflets and a terminal one. These thin, net-veined leaflets are less than 2.5 cm (1 in) long. They are dark green and slightly fuzzy on the top side of the midrib (central vein) and pale green and smooth on the bottom. The somewhat curved lateral leaflets are almost stalkless, while the terminal one has a stalk about 0.5 cm (3/16 in) long. Nut. The reddish flowers bloom in spikelike clusters in the spring. The 2-to 4-cm-long (VA to V/i in) male flower clusters are crowded; the female ones are loose and 4to 7 cm (V/2 to 23/4 in) long. The reddish-brown, oval fruit is a nutlike drupe, less than 1 cm (Ve in) long. The small nuts, similar to the familiar commercial pistachios, have been eaten locally. Figure X—Range. Figure 3.—Leaf, flower, and nut (courtesy of Robert A. Vines). Family Betulaceae Genus Carpinus L The only member of this genus native to the Eastern United States is Carpinus carolini- Hornbeam ana Walt. There is some disagreement among botanists about the existence of a variety, C caroliniana var. virginiana (Marsh.) Fern. These smooth, gray-barked small trees or tall shrubs bear small, thin buds and serrate, straight-veined leaves. The male flowers grow as stalkless catkins; and the female flowers are in small, terminal clusters. Each small, ovoid nut is attached to a three-lobed, leaflike bract. Carpinus caroliniana Walt. American hornbeam, blue-beech, ironwood, muscletree, water-beech Habitat. Found on rich soils in bottom lands, along streambanks, and on low slopes. Plant. This small tree grows to 12 m (39 ft) in height. The trunks are irregularly fluted and often misshapen, becoming furrowed with age. The smooth bark is ash gray. The alter- nate, sharply pointed leaves are round or slightly heart shaped at the bases, 4 to 6 cm Figure 4.—Range. {V/2 to 2% in) wide, 4 to 12 cm {V/i to 4% in) long, and smooth on top of the leaf with fuzzy veins on the paler undersides. Straight veins terminate in the larger of two sizes of sharp double teeth. The leaves have been used as an astringent. Nut. The drooping male catkins, 2.5 to 6 cm (1 to IVs in) long, occur near the previous year's short, side branches. The female flowers, each enclosed by a three-lobed bract, occur in clusters on an erect catkin, growing from the ends of the current year's growth. The 4-mm (3/16 in), ribbed nut occurs atthebaseof the longest bractlet of the female flower and is rounded with a sharp point. Figure 5.—Leaf. F-530986 Figure 6.—Nut. F-530987 Genus Corylus L This genus of shrubs and small trees includes the species C americana Walt., the Hazelnut American hazelnut, and C cornuta Marsh., the beaked hazelnut.