Wingnut is a vigorous hybrid tree that combines the best traits of two Asian species, creating a deciduous giant that reaches 50 to 72 feet tall with an equally broad spread. First grown at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston in 1879, this botanical cross produces stunning compound foliage and showy flowering and fruiting displays that make it a striking four-season ornament. Hardy in zones 6 through 8, it grows faster and more robustly than either parent, tolerating everything from compacted soils to drought once established, yet still thriving in consistently moist conditions.
Full Sun
Moderate
6-8
864in H x 864in W
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High
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This hybrid wingnut earned its reputation through vigor and adaptability rather than delicacy. The combination of attractive compound leaves, showy flowers blooming May through June, and equally ornamental fruit makes it a tree that earns its space through multiple seasons of interest. It develops an extensive root system and tolerates hard, compacted soils with grace, while growing substantially faster than its parent species. The real strength lies in its hardiness boost: this cross produces a tree more winter-tough and heat-resilient than either Pterocarya fraxinifolia or Pterocarya stenoptera could achieve alone.
Wingnut serves primarily as a shade tree, its broad, spreading canopy casting deep, generous shadow across lawns and gardens. The compound foliage, combined with showy flowers and ornamental fruit, makes it a specimen tree valued for its four-season visual interest rather than any functional harvest.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Remove plant suckers promptly as they appear to maintain a single-trunk or multi-trunk specimen form and prevent the tree from spreading beyond its intended footprint. Beyond sucker removal, wingnut requires minimal pruning; its naturally rounded, broad-spreading habit develops without intervention.
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“Wingnut carries a precise botanical pedigree. This hybrid between Pterocarya fraxinifolia and Pterocarya stenoptera was first cultivated at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston in 1879, where Alfred Rehder, the arboretum's pioneering dendrologist, guided its development. The cross was deliberate: Rehder sought to combine the hardiness and vigor of both parent species into a single tree that could thrive in a broader range of North American gardens. By crossing these two Asian natives, he created a tree that surpassed its parents in resilience and growth rate, earning it the common name Rehder wingnut among horticulturists. This hybrid represents a moment in late 19th-century plant breeding when arboretums functioned as living laboratories, testing botanical combinations to expand the palette of ornamental trees available to gardeners in temperate climates.”