This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

Juglans regia (Juglandaceae)

It is located probably along the borders of the river Sabato between the municipalities of Altavilla and Prata P.U. This nut tree was uprooted from San Barbato in the second half of the 7^th century in order to build a chapel.

This area of Campania is rich in mysteries and legend, since it was considered an earth of witches which were called janare by the farmers.

The janare were common women during the day, but they flew on their broom sticks at night and used to say before taking off “Under the water and in the middle of the wind, under the nut tree of Benevento”. At night they entered in the houses of the inhabitants and it was necessary to put salt bags and broom sticks on the doors to avoid the witches. When this happened, the witches were obliged to count each grain of salt and thread of sorghum before entering and if dawn came before they ended, the witches were obliged to run away and the houses were safe. These legends on the witches of Benevento were then spread all over Europe from the 13^th century.

Botanical Characteristics:

It hails probably from central-western Asia, the Far East and the Balkan Peninsula. Nut trees were then spread in south-western Europe thanks to the man who kept cultivating them till the sixties. These trees are present in all the Italian regions from both on plains and elevations till q,200 meters of altitude. Nut trees prefer fresh and deep soils rich in siliceous, but not full of water. In addition, they prefer to be exposed to the sun especially at the higher altitudes, since the temperatures are low. Their species is a solitary one and rarely forms woods. They have been cultivated for centuries, because of two regions: their fruits and wood. The nuts they produce are edible and are used in cooking, confectionery and to produce a liqueur, the walnut, in Trentino. The wood presents itself as heavy and semi-hard, it is used in carving and to produce luxury furniture in the form of sliced and solid wood. Other parts of the plant can be used like leaves, hulls and buds, which have an astringent, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, depurative and digestive.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)