It has a rather nasty poem written about it.

"A dog, a wife and a wall nut tree, the more you beat them the better they be."

This refers to the fact that if you beat the base of the tree with a stick early in the year this (damage) promotes production of walnuts.

Walnut burr wood is also very beautiful and prized.

White Walnut Tree

a walnut

a walnut tree.

The black walnut is like the other nut trees in that the nuts are the reproductive "unit" the tree grows and drops. Plant a black walnut, and (if conditions are acceptable) a new tree will sprout and grow. If the nut can roll away from the parent tree a bit, it will have more room to grow. And if an animal helps with a bit of transportation to improve dispersion, so much the better.