RED LIVERMORE

The red walnut - Red Livermore or Robert Livermore - was selected in 1991 at the University of California, Davis. These walnuts were crossbred of the Howard variety (female parent) and the Purpurea variety (male parent), a Persian red variety. Kernels of the Howard parent bear a typical core skin that is amber-brown in colour. Kernels of the "Purpurea" variety have a red kernel skin.

The Californian red-pitted breed was named "Robert Livermore." Robert S. Livermore was a long-time supporter of the Walnut Improvement Program at the University of California and is honoured by the naming of this walnut.

The special feature of Red Livermore walnuts lies behind the shell of the nuts. The nuances of the reddish core skin make them particularly attractive. The red-skinned walnut is one of the best-tasting varieties.

Growth and crown

The walnut variety Red Livermore grows vigorously (weaker than Franquette). A three-year-old tree typically has a height of 5-6 m and a crown diameter of about 3 m. In later years the walnut tree can reach a height of 10 to 18 m.

The bark of young woody twigs is smooth, brownish to dark brown with numerous raised white corky warts (lenticels). The bark of the adult Red Livermore walnut is smooth and conspicuous by a few off-white lenticels and some cream-colored vertical markings.

The attractive dark green foliage is typical of Juglans regia. The leaves are imparipinnate with 5-9 leaflets, about 40 cm long and 25 cm wide. The leaf margins are entire. The petiole diameter is about 3.5 mm. The foliage gives off a wonderful fragrance when the leaves are crushed.

Red Livermore walnut trees naturally form a beautiful and regularly shaped crown.

Flowering time / leaf sprouting

The walnut variety Red Livermore buds and blooms late. The first flowers can appear on 2-year-old trees. Flowering usually occurs at the same time as the Chandler variety. Flowering occurs in 3 stages - it starts around April 21st, the peak of flowering is on April 26th and the last flowering - on average on May 1st (depends on geographic region).

Red Livermore flowers protandrous, so the male flowers bloom earlier than the females.

Pollination

The Red Livermore walnut is self-pollinating. Other walnut varieties such as Chandler or Franquette are used as pollinators for higher yields.

Yield

The new Robert Livermore walnut variety has proven to be relatively precocious. The walnut tree begins to bear nuts as early as the second year of growth. One of the great advantages of the Red Livermore walnut are rich and regular yields.

The red kernelled variety is one of the laterally bearing varieties. About 90 percent of the lateral buds are fertile. This nut variety is regular in bearing (not alternate) and late in harvest.

Typical spacing when growing Red Livermore walnut trees is 5 x 6 m, resulting in 330 trees per hectare.

Nut and fruit shell quality

The medium-sized to large fruit of the Livermore walnut inspires with its excellent taste and is characterized by the striking red kernel skin. Thanks to the unusual red colour, the fruit looks very decorative.

The Red Livermore walnut forms bright red kernels that have a distinctive red-purple skin. Its bright red, shiny nut is not only decorative on every nut cake, it is also extremely tasty: pronounced, sweetish, typical walnut aroma. The almost round nuts reach a weight of 14.8 g in average and have a uniform size of about 3.5 centimetres in diameter (on average 37.8x35.0x31.9 mm).

The nutshell is strong, heavily grooved, yellowish-brown in colour and easy to crack open by hand. The high-quality nut kernel is light red-violet, completely fills the shell (kernel content 47-50%), detaches from the shell very easily and shows a characteristic, atypical red-violet skin. The average kernel weight is 7.1 g.

The taste of the Livermore kernel combines the slight bitterness of the skin with the soft and delicate taste of the nut core. The particularly tasty nuts are mild, have a fine, creamy aroma, are extremely digestible and, with regard to their characteristic, festive, red-violet skins, are particularly suitable for consumption on holidays, parties or other special occasions. The Red Livermore walnut fetches a higher market price than traditional varieties due to its unique, naturally occurring colour.

Harvest

The optimal time to harvest Livermore walnuts is early October.

Disease resistance and frost sensitivity

The walnut Red Livermore has a good tolerance to leaf spot diseases such as bacterial blight and anthracnose. The red hearted Red Livermore walnut is generally hardy and, due to its late sprouting, is not sensitive to late frosts.

Height & Growth	Vigorous straight growth. In young age the bark is more brownish, while in older age turns more and more grey
Tree crown	The crown is wide; leaves late - about 2 days after Chandler around 5th April; the leaves are olive green.
Flowering	Leafing late – almost at the same time as Chandler; The first flowering occurs in the 3rd year. Flowering is late and is happening in 3 stages – it begins around April 21, the peak flowering is on April 26th and the last flowering - on May 1st on average.
Flowering type	Protandrous
Self fertile	partly self pollinating
Pollination	Chandler, Franquette
Terminal or Lateral	Lateral - аpproximatley 90% of the lateral buds are fruiting
Fruiting	Enters fruiting early; regular yields; the size of the walnuts can vary depending on the yield achieved during a given growing season
Fruit	Almost round shape, large, weight - an average of 14.8 g.
Shell & pericarp	Yellowish-brown in color, strong, thick, almost round (36x35 mm); the nut is easy to separate and seals well the shell
Kernel	Tightly attached to the shell, large, with very good taste (creamy taste - combines a slight bitterness of the pellicle with a soft and delicate taste of the core), characterized by a distinctive red - purple pellicle; The average weight of the nuts is 7.1 g, which is 48% of the weight of the walnut; The dimensions of the nut are approximately: 28 mm long and 29 mm wide
Harvest	Beginning of October
Oil content	high oil content
Kernel %	48%
Winter hardness	resistant
Frost susceptibiity	resistence againt late spring frost
Sensitivity to bacterial blight and anthracnose	practically resistant to anthracnose and to bacterial blight

Walnuts Bulgaria has many years of experience in planting and growing walnut saplings. To help with your plans and goals, we provide you with this online calculator. Please note that it is recommended to use 3 - 10% (of the total amount of trees) of the pollinator variety Franquette.

Please enter the land size in hectares below to calculate the number of trees you can plant.

Land size: (hectare)

Calculate

Go to online store