Description
Pterocarya – Wingnut –
There are about 10 species of fast growing, deciduous tree in this genus. They occur in woodland and on riverbanks, mainly in the mountains of Asia from the Caucasus to Japan. They are grown for their large, alternate, more or less oblong, pinnate leaves composed of 5-27 leaflets, with each leaflet 4″ or more long, which color yellow in autumn, and for their long, pendent spikes of winged fruit, 18″ long, which are produced over a long period in summer. Inconspicuous green male and female flowers are in separate catkins in spring as the leaves emerge. Wingnuts grow to a considerable size (100′ feet or more tall), they are best suited to large gardens or parks.
Grow in deep, fertile, moist but well drained soil in full sun.
P. rhoifolia – Japanese Wingnut – This spreading tree from Japan grows 70-100′ feet tall and 80′ feet wide. It produces pinnate leaves to 16″ long, the leaves are composed of up to 21 ovate-oblong, pointed, glossy, mid green 4″ long leaflets. In summer it produces small, winged green fruit are held in pendent spikes, to 12″ long.
Zones 5-9
