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Black Walnut
Juglans Nigra
commonly known as black walnut or American
walnut,
is a tree species native to eastern North America. It grows mostly
alongside rivers, from southern Ontario, Canada west to southeast South
Dakota, south to Georgia, northern Florida and southwest to central
Texas.
Black Walnut is highly prized for its dark-colored true heartwood. It
is heavy and strong, yet easily split and worked. Walnut wood has
historically been used for gunstocks, furniture, flooring, paddles,
coffins, and a variety of other woodworking products. Due to its value,
forestry officials often are called on to track down walnut poachers;
in 2004, DNA testing was used to solve one such poaching case,
involving a 55 foot (16m) tree worth US $2500. Black walnut has a
density per cubic metre of 660kg (41.2 lb/cubic foot)[1],
which makes it lighter than oak.
Hickory
Carya Ovata
Hickory wood is extremely tough, yet flexible, and is valued for tool handles, bows (like yew), wheel spokes, carts, drumsticks, lacrosse stick handles, golf club shafts (sometimes still called hickory stick, even though made of steel or graphite), the bottom of skis, walking canes etc. and for punitive use as a switch (like hazel), and especially as a cane-like hickory stick in schools. Baseball bats were formerly made of hickory but are now more commonly made of ash. Hickory is also highly prized for wood-burning stoves, because of its high caloric content. Hickory wood is also a preferred type for smoke curing meats. In the Southern United States, hickory is popular for cooking barbecue, as hickory grows abundantly in the region, and adds flavor to the meat. Hickory is sometimes used for hardwood flooring due to its durability and character.
A bark extract from shagbark hickory is also used in an edible syrup that is similar to maple syrup, with a slightly bitter, smoky taste.
The nuts of some species are palatable, while others are bitter and only suitable for animal feed. Shagbark and Shellbark Hickories, along with the Pecan, are regarded by some as the finest nut trees.
