What is the botanical name of the walnut? How many species are there? How old can a walnut get? We clarify these and other questions in this article, which, in addition to the bullet-point profile of the walnut tree, also includes specific descriptions of some of its special features.
What is the botanical name of the walnut and how old can it live?
The walnut tree (Juglans regia) belongs to the walnut family (Juglandaceae) and has around 60 species. It reaches a height of 10 to 30 meters and usually lives up to 150 years, sometimes even over 200 years.
Walnut profile
- Name: walnut or walnut tree
- Botanical name: Juglans regia
- Family: Walnut family (lat. Juglandaceae)
- Tree type: deciduous tree
- Use: garden tree, park tree
- Species: about 60
- Distribution: worldwide, especially Central Europe, but also the rest of Europe, Asia, America
- Height: 10 to 30 meters
- Leaf: alternate pinnately pinnate 7 to 9 oblong egg-shaped individual leaves, up to 12 cm long, smooth edge, dark green, yellow-orange autumn color, in late summer the leaf feels like leather, spicy scent (smell repels mosquitoes and flies)
- Frequency: monoecious, separate sexes
- Flowers: greenish in color, male flowers sprout with the leaves, hang in thick catkins, female flowers come 3 to 4 weeks later, flowering period from April to June, pollination by wind
- Fruit: Nut is surrounded by green pericarp; Ripening time September to October
- Branches: olive-brown, thick, with clear leaf scars, brown buds
- Bark: gray, later barky black, cracked, rich in profile
- Wood: hard, noble, expensive
- Root: Deep-rooted
- Location: sunny to partially shaded
- Soil: sandy-loamy to loamy
- pH value: slightly acidic to alkaline
- Age: up to 150 years, sometimes over 200 years
Special Walnut Tree Facts
It is known that the tasty fruits of the walnut tree have been important to humans as food for more than 10,000 years.
The fat content of the nuts is over 50 percent. This makes them an excellent source of energy. Walnuts are generally considered to be very he althy: they help with anemia, for example. They also support wound healing and reduce water loss in the event of diarrhea.
Walnuts contain iron, zinc, potassium and a-linolenic acid. The latter is an important omega-3 fatty acid for the human body.
Nowadays the walnut tree plays the role of a useful tree. For this reason, walnuts can now be found in all moderate climate zones in the northern hemisphere. Walnuts are less common than wild trees.
In addition to the fruits, the wood of the walnut is also of economic importance. Because of its extraordinary color and aesthetically pleasing grain, walnut wood acts as a valuable and correspondingly expensive fine wood.
Walnut popular as a medicinal plant
An interesting fact is the pronounced popularity of the walnut tree as a medicinal plant in natural medicine.
The nuts as well as the fruit peels and leaves are often used in folk medicine. There they are used to produce anti-inflammatory and antibacterial preparations.
The leaves of the walnut are used internally and externally, for example as walnut leaf tea to drink or in the form of compresses for the skin. They are said to have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects. The leaves are also said to have a positive effect on eczema, acne and fungal diseases.
However, caution is advised when it comes to internal use (walnut leaf tea): If you have a sensitive, sensitive stomach, you may experience unpleasant symptoms such as nausea and diarrhea. In principle, however, the walnut is not poisonous to humans.