The Butternut: an endangered tree fading away

The Bruce Trail Conservancy is working with the Ontario Stewardship councils of Halton-Peel Region, Dufferin and Simcoe Counties to help inform landowners about the endangered status of Butternut. This program is part of a larger recovery effort across north eastern and north central North America to try to save this endangered species.

Background

Butternut canker disease is threatening the existence of Butternut across its natural range. It can infect and kill healthy trees as well as those that are injured or stressed. Currently, there are no control options for the disease and mortality has reached 90% of the population in some areas of the United States. In Ontario, it has been estimated to have killed up to 80% of the Butternut population.

Butternut is listed as a Nationally Endangered Species by the Canadian Wildlife Service. Here in Ontario it is designated as an Endangered Species under the Provincial Endangered Species Act.

Butternut Recovery Program

The intention of the Butternut Recovery Program is to engage private landowners and community forest managers to assist with the regional recovery project for Butternut. Mature and healthy Butternuts will be located and mapped, allowing for the collection of seeds from trees showing possible resistance to Butternut canker disease. Those seeds will later be germinated to produce butternut seedlings that will be planted on site-appropriate locations.

Butternut Recovery Program Objectives

• Inform landowners on the endangered status of Butternut.
• Locate and map mature Butternut trees that are showing the promise of possible resistance.
• Collect seeds and store information gathered in a seed source database.
• Produce butternut seedlings that will be planted on site-appropriate locations throughout the butternut recovery program area.
• Monitor survival and health of planted Butternut seedlings each fall through volunteer reporting by landowners.

To assist in the recovery program landowners with Butternut can fill out a Butternut survey form and return it to their respective region or county Ontario stewardship coordinator.

What is a Butternut?

Butternut (Juglans cinerea L.) is a member of the walnut family and is native to, and widespread in eastern Canada. It grows in southern Ontario and Quebec, as well as New Brunswick. It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree. The species is relatively short lived, rarely living longer than 75 years.

Butternut is intolerant to shade, meaning it does not grow or reproduce under a forest canopy. It can be found scattered individually or in small groups within mixed hardwood stands, along fence lines or in open fields. Butternut is commonly associated with other tree species such as basswood, black cherry, beech, black walnut, elm, hickory, oak, red maple, sugar maple, white ash, and yellow birch.

Butternut produces an edible and nutritious nut which is an important food source for birds, squirrels, and other small mammals. Aboriginal people used the nut oil for cooking, hair dressing, leather-making and polishing tools. Carvers and wood workers value the wood for its softness, colour, and varied texture.

Common Signs and Symptoms of Butternut Canker

• Dying branches in upper crown.
• In spring, a thin black fluid oozes from cracks in bark.
• In summer, fall, and winter, the black fluid dries to a sooty stain.
• Underneath the bark, sunken, elongated, diamond-shaped cankers, dark brown to black in colour, on the branches or the stem.
• Epicormic branching below dead or infected area.

For more information, contact:

Greg Bales
Halton-Peel Woodlands and Wildlife Stewardship
Ministry of Natural Resources
Aurora District
Telephone: 905-713-7410
Email: greg.bales@ontario.ca