There is a black walnut off the paths toward the southwest corner of the woods.
How to Recognize It
The trees are easy to recognize when their large (almost platform tennis ball-sized) green fruit (containing the "walnut" we recognize at its core) mature during the summer. These walnuts can be messy as they fall and are consumed on the ground.
Black Walnut leaves are pinnately compound, with 15-23 leaflet arranged on the stem. They are among the last trees to leaf out in spring, and first to drop their leaves in fall. Leaves are pungent when rubbed or crushed. Male plants produce long, 3-4" catkins.
Why to Like
This large native tree growing to 100 feet tall, was one of the most important forest trees in the Midwest prior to the arrival of European settlers. the Black Walnut has long been prized for furniture-making, which greatly reduced native wild populations. The "nuts" are harvested for commercial sale, and are enjoyed by animals like squirrels which spread the species by hoarding and burying the nuts. The trees keep the areas around them clear by creating a natural substance called juglone which inhibits the growth of -- or kills -- many nearby plants.