Large pendulous shade tree in the walnut or Juglandaceae family. Dappled shade; expansive roots on soil surface; tough dependable tree; strong wood. This tree is similar to Pterocarya fraxinifolia (Caucasian wingnut) except the midribs (rachis) of its compound leaves have toothed, often serrate wings. New foliage is downy and young twigs are covered with tawny down. Non-showy yellow-green fall leaf color but brown wingnut fruits are showy in the fall. Seasons of Interest: Nut: Fall Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: No serious problems but is considered high maintenance because fruits, foliage and twigs often produce a significant amount of litter. Form: Pendulous branching; open canopy; some times multistemmed; spreading branches
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Clay
Soil drainage
Good Drainage
Mature size
Height: 50 ft. 0 in. - 70 ft. 0 in. | Width: 40 ft. 0 in. - 70 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Rapid
Canopy layer
1 - Canopy (>40 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Multi-stemmed; Open; Spreading
Texture
Medium
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
Leaf shape
Elliptical; Lanceolate
Leaf feel
Glossy
Leaf size
> 6 inches long
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Compound, odd-pinnate leaves grow to 15” long. Each leaf contains 11 to 25, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, sharply-toothed, glossy dark green leaflets (each 2-5” long). The terminal leaflet is often missing, so that the leaf is often even-pinnate instead of odd-pinnate.
Flower color
Green
Flower size
> 6 inches
Flower detail
Insignificant, light green catkins appear May-June. Female catkins to 20” long and male catkins to 7" long. Produces 12 to 20 in. necklaces of emerald green, winged nutlets; turn brown in fall