Walnut, White (Butternut), Bare Root

White Walnut (Juglans cinerea)

Also known as butternut, White Walnut is a majestic native tree valued for its sweet, oily nuts, medicinal bark, and critical ecological role in forest systems. Though less common in cultivation than its cousin the black walnut, the white walnut deserves more attention from food foresters, herbalists, and native habitat stewards. This slow-growing deciduous tree is native to eastern North America and supports a wide range of wildlife while also offering edible and medicinal uses for humans. It prefers rich, moist, well-drained soils and is often found along streambanks, in bottomlands, and moist woodland edges. White walnut integrates beautifully into diverse agroforestry systems and long-term regenerative landscapes.

Key Characteristics

• Ecological role as a keystone wildlife tree
  White walnut provides habitat and food for a variety of native wildlife. Its nuts are an important fall food source for squirrels, chipmunks, and other mammals, while the tree itself supports over 100 species of Lepidoptera, including the Luna Moth and Walnut Sphinx Moth, both of which use it as a larval host.
• Edible nuts prized for rich flavor
  The nuts of the white walnut are high in oil and have a rich, buttery flavor—hence the name "butternut." They were an important traditional food source for Indigenous communities and early settlers. Though harder to harvest than commercial walnuts, the taste is considered superior by many for fresh eating and baking.
• Traditional medicine from bark and inner root
  White walnut bark and inner root bark have been used in traditional herbal medicine, especially by Indigenous tribes and early American herbalists, as a laxative, antiparasitic, and for digestive support. The inner bark is typically tinctured or decocted, but should be used with caution due to its potency.
• Ideal for food forests and silvopasture systems
  White walnut thrives in rich soils and can be integrated into food forests and silvopasture systems where its light canopy allows some understory growth. Its root system is less aggressive than black walnut, but it does still produce juglone, which can suppress some companion plants—making species selection important in guild design.
• At-risk native with restoration value
  White walnut is increasingly rare due to butternut canker, a fungal disease introduced in the 20th century. Planting it in conservation-focused systems and restoring its presence along streams, woodlands, and moist slopes supports long-term forest health and genetic preservation.

Product Details

• Native range: Eastern and central North America
• Plant life cycle: Deciduous tree
• Sun requirements: Full sun to part shade
• Soil requirements: Medium to medium-wet; prefers rich, loamy, well-drained soils
• Mature height: 40–70 feet
• Bloom time: Late spring
• Bloom color: Yellowish-green (catkins)
• USDA Hardiness zones: 3–7

A rare native tree with deep roots in food, medicine, and ecology, white walnut offers a long-term investment in biodiversity, human nutrition, and forest resilience. Best planted in moist, rich soils as part of a long-term regenerative landscape.