Juglans cinerea

Butternut grows naturally in the north-eastern United States and also – though rarely - in southern Canada. It is a large multi-stemmed tree with grey bark and a broad crown. The decorative oddpinnate leaves are 25-50 cms (10-20 inches) long, with 11-19 leaflets in opposite pairs. The flowers are unpretentious, but the fruit is a hard-shelled nut 6-8 cms long inside a sticky fleshy covering, ripening in September. The shell is sharp-ribbed into sections and needs to be handled carefully to avoid lacerations.