Perhaps Juglans nigra - Black walnut.

Oh dear! Then I definitely don't want it! Thanks for the ID.

Yup, almost certainly J. nigra. Be forewarned that the roots secrete a substance that inhibits the growth of many other plants (you can find lists of susceptible and/or resistant plants online) . And it's a very messy tree, dropping nuts covered in a dark brown to black, tough outer skin that will badly stain concrete drives and walkways, not to mention the stems of the leaves are slow to decompose. Never compost the leaves, as they contain the growth inhibitor, as well. The nuts need to have the (very messy) skins removed, and the nuts dried, before they can be cracked.

That said, if you have a wild area you can consign it to, the nuts are favored by many people for things like fruit cakes and German chocolate cake icing. They also are pricey, where you can find them for sale at all. Diamond Nut Co does sell them, but in tiny quantities at exorbitant prices, lol.

EDIT: Traditionally, most commercially available black walnuts have been wild gathered, but in the last 30 years walnut orchards have been started, especially in the upper wid-west states. They now have named varieties, with thinner, easier-to-crack shells.

You are welcome Virginia. fig_insanity Z7a E TN I have Juglans cinerea - Butternut and they are very tasty if you can handle a tremendous amount of work for a paltry amount of nut meat.

@peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada I know, lol. It's like the hickory nuts (Carya sp.) that grow wild on my farm. You'd have to be starving to crack more than one or two for the paltry amount of nut meat you get. They're delicious, and I actually prefer them to pecans, but the wild forms are just too much effort for the reward. There have been better varieties and crosses introduced of almost all the edible juglans/carya species now that have thinner shells, but I'm too old at 65 to begin planting nut trees that might not bear for another decade or more, lol.

Thanks for your reply fig. Those are many of the reasons why I got rid of the fruit as soon as I read peren's reply!

Yes fig_insanity Z7a E TN I am also too old to try a better variety lol! Given the fact that butternut canker has wiped out all but one tree when I used to have them all along the edge of the forest, I would be loathe to have a new tree affected by the same disease. Maybe I should gather the butternuts now and check on the Carya in a couple of months to give myself something to do when the snow starts lol!

Butternuts secrete a tiny bit of juglone, but they only inhibit the most sensitive plants. They look like black walnuts, pretty much except the fruits and nuts are football-shaped. You can buy them from FEDCO Nut Trees - Fedco Trees (fedcoseeds.com) . You order pretty soon after they open ordering for popular trees. I have no idea how popular butternut is. The ship in the spring.