Black Walnut loves full sun and will grow up to 90 feet tall in optimum contitions.  Its trunk diameter can reach 5 to 6 feet.
 
     Black Walnut features distinctive bark and compound leaves that have almost a fern-like appearance.  Their yellow fall colors contrast beautifully with the chocolate bark.
 
     Black Walnut attracts birds and butterflies, is a larval host for moth species and feeds squirrels and other small mammals.
 
     Its fruit drops in the fall, and the “meat” inside can be dried and eaten raw, baked into cookies or ground into a flour. 
 
     Fun fact: ☺ Native Americans used the nuts for food and boiled the tree sap for syrup. They also reportedly threw the husks into ponds to poison fish, making them easier to catch.