PARSONS – A butternut tree located in Parsons will soon have an interpretive sign thanks to Parsons City Council Member Tim Auvil. The sign will detail information about butternut trees, and have information about the tree, which is the largest known butternut tree in the state.
The largest butternut tree, located in Parsons, will soon have a sign describing butternut trees, and designating it as the largest known butternut tree in W.Va.
Auvil said the tree is also endangered.
“The species itself has almost been eradicated in the Eastern part of the United States,” Auvil said. “In the last 30 years, there is a canker that has infected most of the butternut trees. The one over here in Parsons doesn’t seem to have been affected.”
Auvil said in 2010 the butternut tree, located near the old shoe plant, received the designation as the largest known butternut tree in West Virginia and the second largest butternut tree in the United States.
“The largest butternut tree in the U.S. is located in the Midwest,” Auvil said.
The Parsons Butternut tree has a circumference of 192 inches, or 16 feet, in diameter. It is 75 feet tall and its canopy spans 105 feet.
Auvil said the sign will include information about butternut trees including
the fact that the heartwood is light in color, and it is used for carving and furniture making. He said butternut wood has a unique shimmering quality, and its nuts are sweet and flavorful and are used for baking and candy making. The nuts, however, are very hard to crack.
Auvil said he told one of his customers in Charleston about the butternut tree and the customer said he was going to travel to Parsons to see the tree.
“He said he was going to Seneca Rocks and he would be stopping off in Parsons just to see the tree,” Auvil said.
Auvil said the tree is magnificent, especially when all the leaves are on. He said he thinks the tree is another attraction Parsons has to offer to its visitors.
