''Juglans australis'', the nogal criollo, is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the Juglandaceae family. This large, fast-growing tree can grow to tall at elevations of 0.5—1.5 km in the Southern Andean Yungas, montane

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

s on the eastern slopes of the Andes in Tucumán,

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...

, and

Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in Argentine Northwest, northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Depa ...

provinces of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and Tarija and Chuquisaca departments of

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Description

''J. australis'' is a spreading deciduous tree, up to 25 m. wide which produces first quality lumber, with a straight trunk up to 6 m. tall and up to 5 dm. in diameter. The wood is dense (640 kg/m³), hard, and strong. Upon drying, the radial shrinkage is 2.2%, the tangential 4.7%. The pinnately compound leaves are borne alternately, and bear up to fifteen oval-lanceolate finely serrate leaflets. Like most walnuts, ''J. australis'' produces juglone, an

allelopathic Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the germination, growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms. These biochemicals are known as allelochemicals and can have ben ...

substance which decreases competition from other plants growing nearby. It is more frost resistant than the Persian walnut ('' J. regia'').

Uses

The immature fruits are pickled whole for human consumption. The mature nuts are also eaten. The concentrated extract of the husk is used as a

vermifuge Anthelmintics or antihelminthics are a group of antiparasitic drugs that expel parasitic worms (helminths) and other internal parasites from the body by either stunning or killing them and without causing significant damage to the host. They may a ...

References

australis Edible nuts and seeds Near threatened plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Plants described in 1879 Flora of the Southern Andean Yungas {{Fagales-stub