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sapphire131

Mystery Tree I.D.

4 years ago

Hi Everyone,


We have a mystery tree. I used one of the plant ID apps a couple years ago and it came back as an English Walnut tree. It does blossom in early summer and makes a 'fruit' that we can't ever tell what it might be because the birds eat it right away.

Yesterday, dh was trimming the mystery tree as it wants to have height and width in the canopy. To his shock, there was a more mature 'fruit' on a branch he cut that has been missed by the birds. The fruit is softly fuzzy and it's the size of small apple at the moment. I put the branch in a water vase to help soothe dh's disappointment he cut that branch.

Does anyone recognize what this might be? It doesn't look to be a walnut to us but we've not seen a walnut tree irl. The branches are pliable and the trunk is rather solid.

I'll incude a few photos of the cut branch below.

Comments (18)

  • 4 years ago





  • 4 years ago

    I think the app was right, a Juglans regia.

    SEA SEA thanked Jilly
  • 4 years ago

    Does it get walnuts? The leaves look a little too rounded at the end to me for a walnut, but if that fruit turns into a walnut, then I would say English walnut, it has fewer leaflets and they are larger and rounder than black walnut.

    SEA SEA thanked l pinkmountain
  • 4 years ago

    Definitely a variety of walnut. We have many black walnut trees and your fruit is smooth as opposed to ours which are a bit fuzzy. Inside that green fruit is the walnut and inside that is the seed which is the nut we are familiar with. English walnuts are MUCH easier to harvest. Our black walnuts require a dedication I just don't possess! Walnut trees are beautiful and if they have the space are large and gracious.

    SEA SEA thanked DLM2000-GW
  • 4 years ago

    Thank you!


    Pink, we've not gotten this far in the development of fruit stage yet because of the birds. This is all new to us having the fruit look like it does! So I guess in answer to your question, we've not had walnuts before, but if the birds would leave the tree alone, we might have. New territory here.


    DLM, good to know about your experiences. I would not have throught that a walnut would be hidden inside the green 'wrapper'! I've not seen one in person before. It is a large tree that we have to trim every year. It grew from a snowed on trash pile from our neighbor that a bear dragged into our front yard. Spring came that year and under the trash pile was a something growing and we let it be to see what might happen.

    Thanks Jinx. The green fruit really threw me off! I thought that the app must have mis-IDed it.

    I guess it *is* a walnut tree, after all! Yay. I'm happy about that!

  • 4 years ago

    It looks like a walnut, but it is decidedly strange to have a walnut tree and not get walnuts. That is, I'm surprised that birds would be able to eat all the fruit to the point where you got no nuts.


    But yes, the walnut nut grows inside of a green casing. The green fruits drop from the trees and then dry up, turn black, and split to reveal the nut.


    This site has a pic of the nuts and casings in various stages of this process:

    https://www.epicgardening.com/black-walnut-tree/


    SEA SEA thanked cawaps
  • 4 years ago

    Definitely a walnut. I would lean toward an English walnut because I think black walnuts have a slightly narrower leaf. We had three huge ones when I was growing up.

    SEA SEA thanked cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
  • 4 years ago

    maddilee, oh, that's a good informative diagram there! Yes, learn something new all the time! Thank you for sharing it.

    cawaps, odd as it is, this is the most developed fruit we've had to date. We have gotten as far as the fruits getting to be almond sized, then the birds come and eat them all. Miraculous we got this one so developed. It's exciting, even though it got cut down by accident. Dh is still upset he didn't see it before he lopped off the branch.

    I've shared with him what you've all said, and he's extra excited to know this is indeed a walnut tree. He's hoping we get more in the years to come, with a few lasting long enough to be ready for him to eat!


  • 4 years ago

    My experience with trees getting stripped is that other critters, land critters, take more fruit off trees than birds. I have 2 peach trees, an apricot, and plums -- I got exactly one peach from all those trees. The weather hasn't helped, but one peach loaded up and that was the one we got the one peach from.


    SEA SEA thanked lascatx
  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Mm - I love walnuts! My aunt in WI has an English walnut tree in front of her house and several black ones in back. I don't think she's ever harvested any, tho.

    How old is the tree? Some trees need to get to specific stage of maturity to fruit. I have a Macadamia tree that did nothing for years, and now produces lots of nuts.

    SEA SEA thanked carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
  • 4 years ago

    carolb,

    The tree is 10 years old. Perhaps in years to come, it will produce more and there will be enough for birds and us. I can't imagine having a macadamia tree on site! I love those.

  • 4 years ago

    I'd suspect squirrels not birds.

    SEA SEA thanked HU-977136802
  • 4 years ago

    Macadamia nuts are reportedly REALLY hard to crack. True, @carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10? What's your method?


    Back on walnut trees, a friend o mine bought a house last year and was overwhelmed with walnuts that she had to clean up from the lawn. She couldn't even enjoy them, since she is allergic.

    SEA SEA thanked cawaps
  • 4 years ago

    At the Tudor house I grew up (and married) in, there were a dozen or more English Walnut trees. The squirrel ate more of them than we did.


    Be glad you don't have Black Walnut trees. Our house sat half way up the hill, in the middle of three acres. It had a curvy main driveway and a straight second driveway that went to the lot next door that my parents also owned. The Black Walnuts that fell in the grass did not roll very far, so if I was bored, I would roll them down the straight driveway. Even the squirrels didn't like taking the time to eat many of them.

    SEA SEA thanked Allison0704
  • 4 years ago

    It's true - macadamias are hard as rock and almost perfectly round - they'd make good bullets 😄

    I bought one of these:



    Before that I learned a clever hack from YouTube, using a slice of pool noodle and a hammer, but that got old pretty fast. The nutcracker is much more efficient.

    SEA SEA thanked carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
  • 4 years ago

    Black Walnut trees also tend to kill trees in their vicinity. Something about a toxic sap that they give off through their roots. Most likely a defense mechanism to ensure their share of water. We have one in a corner of our yard. Too big to take down, but it has killed the trees around it.

    SEA SEA thanked jojoco
  • 4 years ago

    Jojo, Black walnuts release juglone. All walnuts do to some extent, I believe. There are shrubs and plants that are resistant: Amelanchier (Serviceberry), Physocarpus opulifolius (Ninebark), many maples, fruit trees like cherries (my mother made the best sour cherry pie from our cherry tree under the walnuts), plums, and peaches. There are lots of others, too. Some azaleas as well.


    The trees contain the chemical in their leaves, fruits, and roots. I have read that even their branches/twigs can release it when they fall.

    SEA SEA thanked cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)