Two genera of this family are found in America,—_Juglans_ and _Hicoria_. Of the first genus there are two species native in the Northeastern States,—the butternut and the black walnut. [Sidenote: Butternut _Juglans cinerea_] _A low, spreading tree, branching a short way up the trunk. Gray bark, slightly fissured, the clefts not running together. Recent shoots downy, with a fringe of hair over the leaf-scar. Leaf-scars conspicuous, alternate, the bundle-scars horseshoe (U) shaped. Light brown buds destitute of scales. Terminal bud encloses pistillate flowers, which are fertilized by the staminate flowers enclosed in the pineapple-like bud over the leaf-scars. These staminate flowers hang in one long catkin, which drops off after shedding the pollen in spring. The superposed buds (two or three over the leaf-scars) contain the side branches. Pith light brown and chambered,—by cutting a twig lengthwise this can be seen,—a characteristic of the Juglans family._ [Illustration: BUTTERNUT _Juglans cinerea_ Page 46 ] [Illustration: TRUNK OF A BUTTERNUT Page 47 ] Among all the native trees, the butternut is perhaps the most interesting for winter study. The naked buds, the irregular leaf-scars, with horseshoe bundle-scars, the superposed buds containing the lateral branches and the queerly marked buds of the staminate flowers, the chambered pith, and the little fringes of down on the stems, every structural detail of this tree is interesting and unusual. The butternut is one of the few trees among the _Juglandaceæ_ which is not tall and beautiful in outline. It is a low tree, with wide-spreading, rather straggling branches, frequently ill shapen and uncouth in appearance. It is usually associated in our minds with country lanes, and growing by the walls and fences bordering open pastures and farm lands, and in these surroundings it seems pleasing and appropriate; but when we find it planted in parks and cultivated grounds it seems commonplace and insignificant. It is found in all the New England States, in New York, and in Pennsylvania. Very large specimens grow in the valley of the Connecticut River. The wood of the butternut is light brown in color, it is light, soft, and easily worked, and is much used for furniture, gunstocks, and for the interior finish of houses. The inner bark is used medicinally, and a dye is made from the bark and nutshells. An excellent pickle is made from the young nuts, and the kernels are sweet and edible, although rather rich and oily. Professor Gray tried the experiment of making sugar from the sap of the butternut. He found that it took four trees to yield nine quarts of sap (one and a quarter pounds of sugar), the amount that one sugar maple yields. The generic name, _Juglans_, comes from _Jovis glans_, the nut of Jove, in reference to the excellence of the fruit, and the specific name, _cinerea_ (ash-colored), probably alludes to the color of the bark. [Sidenote: Black Walnut _Juglans nigra_]