Kingdom: Plantae
(Unranked): Angiosperms
(Unranked): Eudicots
(Unranked): Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Juglandaceae
Genus: Pterocarya
Species: P. fraxinifolia
Binomial name: Pterocarya fraxinifolia
Synonyms: Juglans fraxinifolia, Pterocarya caucasica, Pterocarya pterocarpa.
Common name: Caucasian wingnut, Caucasian walnut, The Wing Nut
Pterocarya fraxinifolia is a fast growing native to the Caucasian region Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russia, the Ukraine and Turkey.
The tree is monoecious and grows to a height of < 30 m, the short, thick bole supporting widely spreading branches to form a rounded crown with a diameter of 35 metres. It has deeply furrowed bark.
The deciduous dark green, pinnate leaves can exceed 60 cm in length, comprising 7 - 27 sessile leaflets.
The flowers appear in spring, the male catkins are thick and green, 7.5 - 12.5 cm long. The female pale-green catkins are longer with less dense flowers, bearing red styles forming fruiting catkins 30 - 50 cm long and develop into two-winged nut fruits (approx 1.8 cm wide) in late summer. They are arranged on the remains of the catkins, they tend to resemble strings of beads.\
Photographed at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth.
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The deeply furrowed bark..
