Envoy at 07:52, 28 July 2007

2007-07-28T07:52:26Z

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:''This article is about the tree. For other uses of the word, see [[Wingnut (disambiguation)]]''
{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Wingnut
| image = Pterocarya-rhoifolia-Detail.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Japanese Wingnut (''Pterocarya rhoifolia'')
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fagales]]
| familia = [[Juglandaceae]]
| genus = '''''Pterocarya'''''
| genus_authority = [[Thomas Nuttall|Nutt.]] ex [[Christian Horace Bénédict Alfred Moquin-Tandon|Moq.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
}}

The '''wingnuts''' are [[plant]]s in the genus ''Pterocarya'' (from [[Ancient Greek]] ''pteron'', "wing" + ''kary'', "[[nut]]") in the walnut family [[Juglandaceae]], native to [[Asia]]. They are [[deciduous]] [[tree]]s, 10-40m tall, with [[pinnate]] leaves 20-45cm long, with 11-25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered [[pith]], a character shared with the [[walnut]]s (''Juglans'') but not the [[hickory|hickories]] (''Carya'') in the same family.

The [[flower]]s are [[plant sexuality|monoecious]], in [[catkin]]s. The seed catkins when mature (about 6 months after pollination) are pendulous, 15-45 cm long, with 20-80 seeds strung along them. The [[seed]]s are a small [[nut (fruit)|nut]] 5-10 mm across, with two wings, one each side. In some of the species, the wings are short (5-10 mm) and broad (5-10 mm), in others longer (10-25 mm) and narrower (2-5 mm).

===Species===
There are six species of wingnut.
*''[[Pterocarya fraxinifolia]]'' - '''Caucasian Wingnut'''. [[Caucasus]] and [[Elburz]] mountains in southwest [[Asia]].
*''[[Pterocarya hupehensis]]'' - '''Hubei Wingnut'''. Central [[China]].
*''[[Pterocarya macroptera]]'' - '''Large-winged Wingnut'''. West and southwest [[China]].
*''[[Pterocarya rhoifolia]]'' - '''Japanese Wingnut'''. [[Japan]], eastern [[China]] ([[Shandong]]).
*''[[Pterocarya stenoptera]]'' - '''Chinese Wingnut'''. [[China]], widespread.
*''[[Pterocarya tonkinensis]]'' - '''Tonkin Wingnut'''. Southernmost [[China]] ([[Yunnan]]), [[Indo-China]].

Another species from China, the '''Wheel Wingnut''' with similar foliage but an unusual circular wing right round the nut (instead of two wings at the sides), previously listed as ''Pterocarya paliurus'', has now been transferred to a new genus, as ''[[Cyclocarya paliurus]]''.

===Uses===
Wingnuts are very attractive, large and fast-growing trees, occasionally planted in [[park]]s and large [[garden]]s. The commonest in general cultivation outside of Asia is ''P. fraxinifolia'', but the most attractive is probably ''P. rhoifolia''. The hybrid ''P. x rehderiana'', a cross between ''P. fraxinifolia'' and ''P. stenoptera'', is even faster-growing and has occasionally been planted for [[timber]] production. The [[wood]] is of good quality, similar to [[walnut]], though not quite so dense and strong.

==External links==
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=127445 Flora of China - ''Pterocarya'']
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=108834 Flora of China - ''Cyclocarya'']

[[Category:Fagales]]

Wingnut - Revision history

Envoy at 07:52, 28 July 2007