Photographed with 18″ scale. Both leaves are approx. 18″ long.
native range
Description
Mature trees may reach 50 ft in height and width, and live more than 200 years, developing massive trunks more than 8 ft thick.
Bark is smooth and grey with wide deep cracks.
Name: English Walnut
Juglans regia
The largest tree in the US is 112 ft in height and has a crown spread of 144 ft. The trunk is 8’7″ in diameter at breast height.
Bark is dark brown, broken into a network of narrow ridges.
Name: Black Walnut
Juglans nigra
are these two trees related?
Yes; the Black Walnut and the English Walnut (sometimes called the Persian Walnut) are in the same taxonomic classification down to the level of Genus.
The Black Walnut and the English Walnut evolved on opposite sides of the earth and share almost no distinguishing visual characteristics. The Linnaean system of taxonomy depends on a single characteristic to classify plants: the reproductive organs. Though these two trees are different in nearly every respect, their flowers and nuts are nearly identical.
As with other old and widespread cultivated plants, it is not easy to reconstruct the original distribution and determine the borders of the past natural ranges. There are many reports concerning the earliest fossil pollen and nuts of J. regia, and the conclusions that various authors draw are somewhat contradictory.
The fruit of these two trees from opposite sides of the globe are remarkably similar. Sept 8, 2022
Uses
Tree People does not recommend either species to be used in an urban setting.
Both trees are exceptionally valuable both for their timber and as a food crop.
The nuts are similar in many respects. The meat of the black walnut is described as bold and earthy, while the English walnut is described as having a sweet and mild taste.
Both nuts are a concentrated source of calories, with the English nut having a slightly higher calorie count. What sets walnuts apart from other nuts is their omega-3 fatty acid content. A 1-ounce serving of English walnuts contains 2.5 grams of omega-3s, while the same serving of black walnut contains 1.5 grams.
sources
Trees of North America, Roger Phillips, Random House 1978
Descriptions are from Wikipedia.
Map of English Walnut native range by Giovanni Caudullo; map of the black walnut native range by Elbert Little.
Tree People of Walla Walla 