If you are hiking in the Loudoun woods you are sure to come across these six common trees , the first four in the forest overstory and last two found in the understory .
Black Walnut ( juglans nigra ):
The black walnut is prized for its edible nuts and valuable wood , and long valued for it use in furniture , flooring and veneers . A single , large walnut tree can fetch thousands of dollars . Walnuts are large trees , often over 80 feet tall with circumferences of 12 feet or more when fully grown . Apart from the excellent wood , walnuts are famous for their nut , which – with some elbow grease — is edible and delicious . In some cultures , there is a tradition for families to go into the woods together and collect buckets of walnuts to enjoy at home over the long winter . Black walnut excretes its own weed-killer , “ juglone ,” that stifles nearby plants and gives the walnut a leg up in the race for survival in the forest . The nut is also a key source of food for squirrels , turkeys , raccoons and other common inhabitants of Loudoun forests . Walnut trees are so abundant in Loudoun that it is often used for firewood here , something which would have been considered sacrilegious in other times or places when walnut was more rare .
White Oak ( quercus alba ):
The king of the forest , and one of Loudoun ’ s largest trees , the white oak is known to live more than 500 years . It is also one of the oldest trees in Loudoun . White oak acorns are beloved by deer and other forest dwellers . In some years , acorns are scarce , and in others — called mast years — the same white oaks produce acorns so abundantly they carpet the forest floor . Even the squirrels and deer can ’ t eat them all . We are fortunate to have on our land a huge white oak , listed on the Big Tree Registry at more than 360 years old . With a 20-foot circumference , it silently guards a remote corner of our farm . Imagine when these giants were common in the Loudoun woods . In the early 1600s Loudoun ’ s woods would have felt a lot more like the famous giant redwood forests in today ’ s Pacific Northwest . If we wait 200 more years , and have the foresight to protect these trees , our descendants may again be able to roam among giants in Loudoun forests .
PHOTO : JIM HANNA photography
PHOTO : JIM HANNA photography
From the top : black walnut , black cherry , spicebush and pawpaw trees .
28 wander I fall • winter 2021