|
Color/Appearance: Heartwood can range from a lighter pale brown to a dark chocolate brown with darker brown streaks. Color can sometimes have a gray, purple, or reddish cast. Sapwood is nearly white. European Walnut can occasionally also be found with figured grain patterns such as: curly, crotch, and burl.
Grain/Texture: Grain is usually straight, but can be irregular. Has a medium texture and moderate natural luster.
Endgrain: Semi-ring-porous to diffuse porous; large earlywood pores grading to medium latewood pores, few; solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; tyloses occasionally to abundantly present; growth rings distinct; medium rays barely visible without lens, normal spacing; parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates (sometimes very faint and barely visible even with lens) and banded (marginal).
Rot Resistance: English Walnut is rated as moderately durable in terms of decay resistance, though it is susceptible to insect attack.
Workability: Typically easy to work provided the grain is straight and regular. Planer tearout can sometimes be a problem when surfacing pieces with irregular or figured grain. Glues, stains, and finishes well, (though walnut is rarely stained).
Odor: English Walnut has a faint, mild odor when being worked.
Allergies/Toxicity: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, European Walnut has been reported as a sensitizer. Usually most common reactions simply include eye and skin irritation. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicityand Wood Dust Safetyfor more information.
Pricing/Availability: English Walnut is likely to be rather expensive, and is sometimes only seen in veneer form.
Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices, but is reported by the IUCN as being near threatened. Technically it doesn’t meet the Red List criteria of a vulnerable or endangered species, but is close to qualifying and/or may qualify in the near future. This listing is for the wild populations of the tree: it should be noted that nearly all of the available lumber comes from cultivated trees.
Common Uses: Furniture, cabinetry, gunstocks, interior paneling, veneer, turned items, and other small wooden objects and novelties.
Comments: Known in Europe simply as “Walnut,” or “Common Walnut,” English Walnut (Juglans regia) is the source of what are the most common form of edible walnuts for human consumption. Branches of English Walnut are sometimes grafted onto the trunk of Claro Walnuttrees in Californian walnut orchards to take advantage of the latter tree’s roots, which are better suited to the locale and produce more fruit.
|