Juglans nigra

Black walnut is in the Juglandaceae family and is native to eastern North America, growing from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia and northern Florida, and southwest to central Texas. Black walnut is currently under pressure from the thousand cankers disease which is causing decline of walnuts in some areas.

• Leaves are alternate, pinnately compound; stems have 15–23 leaflets, 30–60 cm long, typically even-pinnate but there is much variation among leaves.
• Species is monoecious; males are single-stemmed catkins up to 12 cm long; females are on short spikes near the ends of twigs, yellow-green, with reddish-green stigmas, appearing in late spring.
• Leaf scar has 3 prominent bundle scars in the shape of a "happy face",no hairy eyebrows, and has a notch on the side which points toward the tip of the branch (distal side). Buds are tan, and large with a few pubescent scales; twig has a light-brown chambered pith.
• Fruit ripens during the autumn into a fruit (nut) with a brownish-green, semi-fleshy husk and a brown, corrugated nut. The whole fruit, including the husk falls in October or November; the seed is relatively small and very hard, especially compared to English walnut.