Butternut (Juglans cinerea)

Butternut is a domestic hardwood

Location

Also called white walnut, butternut (Juglans cinerea) grows from southern New Brunswick and Maine west to Minnesota. Its southern range extends into northeastern Arkansas and eastward to western North Carolina.

Characteristics

The narrow sapwood is nearly white and heartwood is light brown, frequently modified by pinkish tones or darker brown streaks. The wood is moderately light in weight (about the same as eastern white pine), rather coarse textured, moderately weak in bending and endwise compression, relatively low in stiffness, moderately soft, and moderately high in shock resistance. Butternut machines easily and finishes well. In many ways, butternut resembles black walnut especially when stained, but it does not have the same strength or hardness.

Primary Uses

Principal uses are for lumber and veneer, which are further manufactured into furniture, cabinets, paneling, interior woodwork, and miscellaneous rough items.

*Much of the base wood information presented here is made available by the USDA FPL FS. If you are interested in a much more technical description of wood properties, I encourage you to visit the source.