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. stenoptera – Chinese Wingnut – This spreading tree from China grows 60-80′ feet tall and 50′ feet wide. From fine down covered shoots it carries pinnate leaves, to 16″ long, with winged midribs, the leaves consist of up to 21 oblong, bright green leaflets, the terminal leaflet often absent. Small, winged green fruit are produced in pendent spikes, to 12″ long, in summer. The catkins are as long or longer than the foliage.
Zones 7-9
