Stats

Lifespan: Up to 200 yrs
Size: Large
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate deciduous forest
Range: Eastern North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

A towering eastern North American hardwood whose roots and fallen husks leach juglone into the soil — a natural toxin that kills tomatoes, apples, and most garden plants within a 50-foot radius. Its deeply wrinkled nuts are prized for baking, but cracking the iron-hard shell typically requires a vice or a hammer.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fagales
Family: Juglandaceae
Genus: Juglans
Species: Juglans nigra