Juglans jamaicensis
Encyclopedia
Juglans jamaicensis is a species of walnut in the Juglandaceae
family. It is found in Cuba
, the Dominican Republic
, Haiti
, and Puerto Rico
. It is not, in fact, native to Jamaica
, as its name would suggest.
This is a large tree
which can reach 25 meters in height. The compound leaves are each made up of several lance-shaped, toothed leaflets up to 9 centimeters long. Trees bear male and female inflorescences, the male a catkin
up to 11 centimeters long and the female an array of flowers at the end of a newly grown shoot. The fruit is a drupe
roughly 2 to 3 centimeters long with a black husk and a seed, which is an edible walnut meat, inside.
In Puerto Rico there are only ten to fourteen trees of this species remaining. It is also rare in Cuba and Hispaniola.
It is threatened by habitat loss. It may never have been common, but specimens were likely lost when forest was cleared for coffee plantations on Puerto Rico, and it was probably harvested for wood. The attractive wood is similar to that of the black walnut (Juglans nigra).
This tree has protection under the Endangered Species Act of the United States, where it is listed as an endangered species
.
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 Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. It is not, in fact, native to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, as its name would suggest.
This is a large tree
Tree
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...
which can reach 25 meters in height. The compound leaves are each made up of several lance-shaped, toothed leaflets up to 9 centimeters long. Trees bear male and female inflorescences, the male a catkin
Catkin
A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster, with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated but sometimes insect pollinated . They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged closely along a central stem which is often drooping...
up to 11 centimeters long and the female an array of flowers at the end of a newly grown shoot. The fruit is a drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
roughly 2 to 3 centimeters long with a black husk and a seed, which is an edible walnut meat, inside.
In Puerto Rico there are only ten to fourteen trees of this species remaining. It is also rare in Cuba and Hispaniola.
It is threatened by habitat loss. It may never have been common, but specimens were likely lost when forest was cleared for coffee plantations on Puerto Rico, and it was probably harvested for wood. The attractive wood is similar to that of the black walnut (Juglans nigra).
This tree has protection under the Endangered Species Act of the United States, where it is listed as an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
.