
The Butternut Tree - Kinnelon, NJ
Posted by:
briansnat
N 41° 00.162 W 074° 21.533
18T E 553916 N 4539254
This is the oldest and largest Butternut Tree in New Jersey
Waymark Code: WM319P
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 01/24/2008
Views: 136
This tree is estimated to be 200 years old.
The Butternut was used for food and medicinal purposes by area Indians. The oils were made into a butter-like substance used in cooking. The meat of the nut was used in a mixture similar to cornmeal mush. The sap of the butternut was also used as sugar and is said to taste similar to maple sugar.
During the civil war Confederates soldiers dyed their uniforms with butternut hulls.
The wood of the tree is related to the walnut family and was used by Shakers in furniture making. The bark of the tree was used as a medicine for the treatment of dysentery and the hull of the nut was used as a fungicide during Colonial times.