Andean Walnut
Encyclopedia
Juglans neotropica is a species of plant
in the Juglandaceae
family. It is found in Colombia
, Ecuador
, and Peru
. It is threatened by habitat loss. Common names include Colombian Walnut, Ecuadorian Walnut, Andean Walnut, Nogal, Cedro Negro, Cedro Nogal, and Nogal Bogotano.
attaining heights of up to 40 meters, with grooved, red-brown bark
and an oval-shaped canopy. The compound leaves
, typical to all members of Juglans, are about 40 cm long, grouped at the ends of the branches, and have a serrated border.
The species prefers loose-textured, fertile soils, and seems to thrive in somewhat muddy conditions. Neutral to slightly acidic soils are ideal; the tree will not tolerate calcaerous
soils nor very acidic conditions. Andean Walnuts are found between 1600 and 2500 meters of elevation
, in biome
s where the average temperature is between 16 and 22°C, and annual precipitation
of between 1 and 3 meters that is distributed evenly throughout the year. The species does particularly well when planted near running water. It is found naturally in a wide variety of Pre-Montane and Montane forests, and most abundantly in cloud forest
s.
Propagation is by seed
; nuts are scarified
with sandpaper, then planted in moist sand for 4 months at a temperature of 2 to 4°C. Natural germination times are poorly studied, but new trees appear to grow where the nuts fall and are buried under leaf litter.
The Andean Walnut is allelopathic, like most walnuts, and its presence will kill some understory plants. It is a common host for Anthurium
s and Philodendron
s, which appear to be unaffected.
is produced in husks that are yellow-green when ripe; collection is either by picking fallen fruits from the ground, or otherwise harvesting from the canopy when the husks show signs of being ripe. The sap of the fruit husk is a strong dye
and can stain hands and clothing. The nut inside is within a much harder and more difficult to crack shell than Persian walnuts, but the meat inside is comparable in flavour, perhaps a bit sweeter. "Tocte", the fruit of the Andean walnut, are often sold in the farmer's markets of Ecuador
. The process of husk removal often stains the shells of the nuts black.
Like all walunts, unripe fruit husks produce a strong yellow dye that does not require mordant
; ripe fruits produce a strong red to brown dye that does not require a mordant, and if cooked in an iron pot, a strong deep black dye.
Fruits must be soaked in water for 24–48 hours, but not allowed to ferment
, after which the loosened pulp can be manually removed to reveal the walnut inside. There may be as few as 20 or as many as 200 nuts in a kilogram. Optimum storage temperature is 4 to 6°C.
of Andean Walnut is highly prized in cabinetry, flooring, veneers, utensils, and other forms of decoration. In South America, it is referred to as Nogal, and is among the most expensive woods available.
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
in the Juglandaceae
Juglandaceae
The Juglandaceae, also known as the Walnut Family, is a family of trees, or sometimes shrubs, in the order Fagales. Various members of this family are native to the Americas, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia....
family. It is found in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. It is threatened by habitat loss. Common names include Colombian Walnut, Ecuadorian Walnut, Andean Walnut, Nogal, Cedro Negro, Cedro Nogal, and Nogal Bogotano.
Growth and cultivation
It is a slow-growing treeTree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
attaining heights of up to 40 meters, with grooved, red-brown bark
Bark
Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
and an oval-shaped canopy. The compound leaves
Leaves
-History:Vocalist Arnar Gudjonsson was formerly the guitarist with Mower, and he was joined by Hallur Hallsson , Arnar Ólafsson , Bjarni Grímsson , and Andri Ásgrímsson . Late in 2001 they played with Emiliana Torrini and drew early praise from the New York Times...
, typical to all members of Juglans, are about 40 cm long, grouped at the ends of the branches, and have a serrated border.
The species prefers loose-textured, fertile soils, and seems to thrive in somewhat muddy conditions. Neutral to slightly acidic soils are ideal; the tree will not tolerate calcaerous
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
soils nor very acidic conditions. Andean Walnuts are found between 1600 and 2500 meters of elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
, in biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
s where the average temperature is between 16 and 22°C, and annual precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
of between 1 and 3 meters that is distributed evenly throughout the year. The species does particularly well when planted near running water. It is found naturally in a wide variety of Pre-Montane and Montane forests, and most abundantly in cloud forest
Cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
s.
Propagation is by seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
; nuts are scarified
Scarification
Scarifying involves scratching, etching, burning, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin as a permanent body modification.In the process of body scarification, scars are formed by cutting or branding the skin...
with sandpaper, then planted in moist sand for 4 months at a temperature of 2 to 4°C. Natural germination times are poorly studied, but new trees appear to grow where the nuts fall and are buried under leaf litter.
The Andean Walnut is allelopathic, like most walnuts, and its presence will kill some understory plants. It is a common host for Anthurium
Anthurium
Anthurium , is a large genus of about 600–800 species, belonging to the arum family . Anthurium can also be called "Flamingo Flower" or "Boy Flower", both referring to the structure of the spathe and spadix....
s and Philodendron
Philodendron
Philodendron is a large genus of flowering plants in the Araceae family, consisting of close to 900 or more species according to TROPICOS . Other sources quote different numbers of species. According to S.J. Mayo there are about 350-400 formally recognized species whereas according to Croat there...
s, which appear to be unaffected.
Fruit
Edible fruitFruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is produced in husks that are yellow-green when ripe; collection is either by picking fallen fruits from the ground, or otherwise harvesting from the canopy when the husks show signs of being ripe. The sap of the fruit husk is a strong dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
and can stain hands and clothing. The nut inside is within a much harder and more difficult to crack shell than Persian walnuts, but the meat inside is comparable in flavour, perhaps a bit sweeter. "Tocte", the fruit of the Andean walnut, are often sold in the farmer's markets of Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
. The process of husk removal often stains the shells of the nuts black.
Like all walunts, unripe fruit husks produce a strong yellow dye that does not require mordant
Mordant
A mordant is a substance used to set dyes on fabrics or tissue sections by forming a coordination complex with the dye which then attaches to the fabric or tissue. It may be used for dyeing fabrics, or for intensifying stains in cell or tissue preparations. The term mordant comes from the Latin...
; ripe fruits produce a strong red to brown dye that does not require a mordant, and if cooked in an iron pot, a strong deep black dye.
Fruits must be soaked in water for 24–48 hours, but not allowed to ferment
Fermentation (biochemistry)
Fermentation is the process of extracting energy from the oxidation of organic compounds, such as carbohydrates, using an endogenous electron acceptor, which is usually an organic compound. In contrast, respiration is where electrons are donated to an exogenous electron acceptor, such as oxygen,...
, after which the loosened pulp can be manually removed to reveal the walnut inside. There may be as few as 20 or as many as 200 nuts in a kilogram. Optimum storage temperature is 4 to 6°C.
Wood
The hard, durable woodWood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
of Andean Walnut is highly prized in cabinetry, flooring, veneers, utensils, and other forms of decoration. In South America, it is referred to as Nogal, and is among the most expensive woods available.