Common Name: Black Walnut
Scientific Name: Juglans nigra
Location: Maplewood Cemetary
Coordinates: 38.032900, -78.473654
Now part of the Martha Jefferson Historic District, Maplewood Cemetery was established in 1827, yet its landscape reflects the burial and gardening traditions of an earlier era. There are no formal streets or paths, and no carefully arranged plantings. Instead, trees and shrubs grow seemingly at random among weathered headstones and monuments, giving the cemetery the informal character of an old country churchyard. The cemetery contains hundreds of burials, including those of enslaved Africans, Civil War soldiers, and other residents of Charlottesville.
Near the center of the cemetery stands a large black walnut (Juglans nigra), a tree with deep roots in the history and culture of the eastern United States.
Black walnut is one of the most abundant native trees in the eastern United States, The tree grows rapidly, produces allelopathic compounds that can inhibit the growth of some neighboring plants, and relies on rodents to disperse its large seeds.
The black walnut is valuable in many ways. Its kernels are edible, with a rich, distinctive flavor and satisfying crunch. They are used in ice cream, baked goods, and confections, as well as in salads and savory dishes. In spring, black walnut trees can also be tapped for their sweet sap, which may be consumed as a beverage or concentrated into syrup or sugar, much like the sap of sugar maple.
The tree’s fruit can be less welcome around buildings and vehicles. Black walnut drupes contain compounds that can leave stubborn stains on cars, sidewalks, porches, patios, and the hands of anyone trying to remove the husks. Those same compounds have long been put to practical use as dyes and wood stains.
Black walnut has also played an important role in American history. Early colonists frequently used its abundant wood for fence rails and fuel. Pennsylvania German settlers reportedly sought out black walnut trees as indicators of fertile soil when selecting land for farming.
By the 18th and 19th centuries, cabinetmakers and furniture makers prized black walnut lumber for fine furniture. Its strength and shock resistance later made the wood especially valuable for military purposes. During the Civil War, black walnut became a preferred material for rifle gunstocks. The military continued to rely heavily on the species during World War I and World War II, when its strong, durable wood was also used for gunstocks and aircraft propellers. During World War II, the U.S. government even established programs encouraging citizens to donate black walnut trees to support the war effort.
The species remains important to Virginia’s forests today. Each fall, the Virginia Department of Forestry collects black walnuts for planting at its Augusta Nursery in Crimora, Virginia. The resulting seedlings become part of the state’s hardwood nursery crop and are eventually sold to Virginia forestland owners. Trees grown from Virginia-collected seed are well adapted to the state’s climate and growing conditions.
The black walnut at Maplewood Cemetery is therefore more than an impressive old tree in a historic landscape. It is part of a species whose story connects food and medicine, agriculture and furniture making, military history and forest conservation.
