Are you curious about butternuts?
These football-shaped nuts are a favorite among wildlife, but what do they actually look like?
If you’ve never seen a butternut before, you might mistake it for a black walnut.
Both nuts come in a green husk that can stain your fingers, but there are some key differences.
In this article, we’ll explore the appearance of butternuts and how to identify them.
Get ready to learn about these unique and delicious nuts!
What Do Butternuts Look Like
Butternuts are medium-sized trees that bear elongated, cylindrical nuts inside sticky green hulls. The nuts are football-shaped and have a distinctive ridged and corrugated texture.
The husk of a butternut is fuzzy and sticky, with a short velvet on the outside. When you press your finger into the side of a butternut, it will stick to your finger for a few seconds.
Butternuts grow in clusters on the tree, usually just a handful of nuts together, but sometimes up to 40 nuts hanging together. They fall from the tree when they’re ripe, so it’s best to avoid picking clusters from the tree.
Compared to black walnuts, butternuts have a more ovoid shape and are smoother in texture. They also have a mild, creamy taste that anyone can enjoy.
The Physical Characteristics Of Butternuts
Butternuts are deciduous trees that belong to the walnut family, Juglandaceae. They are native to eastern North America and can grow up to 15-18 meters tall with a trunk diameter of 30-60 cm. The bark of mature butternut trees is deeply furrowed and gray in color.
The leaves of butternut trees are compound and alternate, with 11-17 leaflets that are yellowish-green in color and hairy underneath. The compound leaf is usually tipped with a single leaflet as large as the lateral leaflets. The leaflets are finely toothed, wrinkled above, and have a distinct aroma when crushed.
The twigs of butternut trees are stout, green to red-brown in color, and have a chocolate-brown chambered pith. The winter twigs have large leaf scars with lobes and a fringe of yellow-brown hair on the top margin of the leaf scar.
The fruit of butternut trees is an egg-shaped drupe that has a sticky greenish-brown husk. The hard woody pit inside the husk bears many ridges and contains a sweet oily seed. The nuts are very hard and difficult to crack, but they yield an excellent nut similar in flavor to black walnuts.
Butternuts prefer full sun and are adaptable to a wide range of soils. They grow mostly in the eastern half of Iowa and are found on moist wooded slopes and bottomlands. Butternut trees are more shade-tolerant than black walnut trees, but they do not survive with complete shade over the top.
Unfortunately, butternut trees are being killed throughout their range by a fungus that causes multiple branch and stem cankers that eventually girdle the tree. The fungus infects butternut as its natural host, and black walnut and other walnut species can be infected when wound-inoculated. Despite this threat, butternut trees remain an important part of the ecosystem and are valued for their edible nuts, yellow or orange dye obtained from the fruit husks, and medicinal properties.
How To Identify Butternuts From Black Walnuts
Identifying butternuts from black walnuts can be tricky, but there are a few key differences to look out for.
Firstly, the shape of the nuts is a good indicator. Butternuts are elongated and cylindrical, while black walnuts are round. Butternuts also have a distinctive ridged and corrugated texture on their shell.
Another way to tell the two apart is by looking at the bark of the tree. Black walnuts have a dark brown, deeply furrowed bark when mature, while butternuts have a smooth, whitish-grey bark.
The leaves of butternut trees are also similar to those of black walnut trees, with both having pinnately compound leaves. However, butternut leaves have 11 to 17 leaflets arranged alternately on the twigs, and are tipped with a single leaflet as large as the lateral leaflets. The leaflets are finely toothed and hairy on the lower surface.
In terms of habitat, butternuts prefer moist wooded slopes and bottomlands, while black walnuts can be found in a variety of habitats including forests, fields, and roadsides.
The Nutritional Value Of Butternuts
Butternuts are not only delicious but also packed with essential vitamins and minerals. A 120g serving of dried butternuts contains 734 calories, with 68g of fat, 30g of protein, and 14g of carbohydrates. However, the carbohydrates are mostly complex carbs and fiber, with only 1g of sugar.
Butternuts are an excellent source of several vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, manganese, iron, and calcium. A one-cup serving of cooked butternut squash provides over 450% of the recommended daily intake (RDI) for vitamin A and more than 50% of the RDI for vitamin C.
Butternuts are also rich in carotenoids, including beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and alpha-carotene. These compounds are provitamin A carotenoids that your body converts into retinal and retinoic acid – the active forms of vitamin A. Vitamin A is essential for regulating cell growth, eye health, bone health, and immune function.
In addition to vitamins A and C, butternuts are also high in vitamin E – another antioxidant that helps protect against free radical damage and may reduce the risk of age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Butternuts are also rich in B vitamins like folate and B6, which your body needs for energy and red blood cell formation.
Moreover, butternuts contain magnesium, potassium, and manganese that play important roles in bone health. For example, manganese acts as a co-factor in bone mineralization – the process of building bone tissue.
The Culinary Uses Of Butternuts
Butternuts are a rare treat in the culinary world, but they can add a unique and delicious flavor to a variety of dishes. They have a rich, creamy taste that pairs well with sweet and savory flavors alike. Here are some ways to use butternuts in your cooking:
1. Pesto: Butternuts make a great substitute for pine nuts in pesto. Simply blend together fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, grated Parmesan cheese, and toasted butternuts until smooth. Toss with pasta or spread on bread for a delicious and unique twist on traditional pesto.
2. Baked goods: Butternuts can be used in place of other nuts in baked goods like cookies, cakes, and breads. They add a rich, nutty flavor and a creamy texture that pairs well with chocolate, cinnamon, and other warm spices.
3. Maple nut frosting: If you’re looking for a unique frosting for your cakes or cupcakes, try making a maple nut frosting with butternuts. Simply blend together powdered sugar, butter, maple syrup, and finely chopped butternuts until smooth.
4. Salads: Butternuts can add a crunchy texture and nutty flavor to salads. Try tossing them with mixed greens, dried cranberries, goat cheese, and a balsamic vinaigrette for a delicious fall salad.
5. Snacks: Roasted butternuts make a great snack on their own or mixed with other nuts and dried fruits. Simply toss them with olive oil and your favorite spices (like cinnamon or cumin) and roast in the oven until golden brown.
The Importance Of Butternuts In Wildlife Conservation
Butternuts play a crucial role in wildlife conservation, as they provide an important food source for many mammals. The nourishing fruits of the butternut tree are consumed by a variety of animals, including squirrels, chipmunks, and deer.
In addition to mammals, many species of beetles, weevils, butterflies, and moths are dependent on walnut trees, including the butternut. Some of these species are completely dependent on butternut trees and have no alternative food sources. Therefore, the fate of the butternut species directly affects the survival of these insects.
As a native tree species in North America, butternuts have traditional importance to Indigenous peoples for food, medicine, and cultural practices. The contributions of Indigenous peoples likely helped to increase the range where this species can be found today.
However, the population of butternuts has declined over the past 50 years due to an invasive pathogen and loss of suitable habitat for regeneration. Therefore, conservation efforts are essential to protect this species and maintain its importance in wildlife conservation.
The government of Canada is working to support species at risk, including the butternut tree, in efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss in Canada. Forest managers are encouraged to find surviving trees and collect seed for planting in suitable habitat to develop actionable knowledge that will enable the restoration of butternut with enough resistance to be self-sustaining on the landscape.
Overall, protecting the butternut tree is crucial not only for its cultural significance but also for its role in supporting biodiversity and wildlife conservation.