j0nd03,
That doesn't look like Black Walnut to me. Leaflet number, size and shape don't seem to be in correct proportion. Black Walnut rarely ends with a leaflet on the end of the leaf as you see in your picture, and if they do, they are not nearly as larger, and certainly not larger than the other leaflets (see link below for refernce). To me it looks more like and ash, but some better than I would be more helpful on the tree ID.

Arktrees

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:400502}}

I forgot to add, that Black Walnut has a distinctive smell to them. You might try crushing up one of the leaflets and comparing the smell to a known Black Walnut tree.

Arktrees

I'm not a expert but it doesn't look like a Black Walnut

It may be a hickory (Carya) which would be more desirable than a walnut for the average garden.

Not an Ash.

Well crap... when he was describing the tree to me before he dug it up, I was thinking hickory because we have quite a few carya tomentosa around. We also have a TON of ash. However, our ash tree leaves are not "toothed" or serrated or whatever like this tree is. Our hickory leaves do look somewhat similar but the proportions are not quite right. Our hickory leaves are wider at the very end of the leaves and more narrow at the base than this one. Of course the leaf arrangement is the same as our c. tomentosa. Ash bark is very white on young trees around here and the hickory bark is a charcoal grey/black. It was almost dark when I got it and I forgot to look at the stem when taking pics.

The worst part about all this is I don't even know where he lives to thank him! (and secretly scour his property for potential parentage ;-) ) The first time I met him was two days ago when he stopped by while I was watering after 9 pm (after my other neighbor shot his blow up pool with a shotgun lol)

Black Walnut for me too. If not that, then a Butternut or a Japanese Walnut (or hybrid between the last two).

Resin

Thanks everyone for the input. It does have a distinct leafy smell that is somewhat... unpleasant when I crushed a leaf. If it is a black walnut, does anyone know if it is documented to affect the 4 trees I listed above?

Here again for quick reference:

A. rubrum "October Glory"
C. florida "Cherokee Princess"
S. albidum will be transplanted fairly close - approx 30-40 feet away
P. occidentalis

I also have a southern magnolia that would be about 70 feet away. I have read black walnut develops quite the root spread.

Last question - how is the fall color with this tree?

I haven't tried to grow anything from your list near mine, so I don't know about those species. I can tell you that both American Persimmon and native Black Cherry will do fine near walnuts, as mine have co-existed since the 1960s without issue.

Unfortunately, fall color is poor to awful -- generally leaves turn a pretty sickly yellow-green, often with big dark brown dead patches, and then drop quickly. About the best thing I can say about its fall color is that it is one of the very first trees in my yard to drop every year.

Looks pretty typical of a black walnut seedling to me too.

Wonder how long it will be before thousand cankers disease hits your area? It's in TN now, so I'd bet it will be heading your way before ya know it.

I have the trees mentioned, in the species, with the exception of magnolia, growing naturally among black walnuts, and all do fine. I have seen southern magnolia and black walnut in close association locally and they also seem fine.

I also agree that what you have is black walnut. My trees are aggressive colonizers of open land, and I have hundreds (thousands?) sprouting on a piece of former pasture/hayland.

Not the best ornamental in my opinion, they tend to look ratty here starting about now, with diseased and insect ridden foliage and early leaf drop. Some individuals tend to "yellow out" as summer heats up. And there's the issue of shrapnel when one mows beneath the trees in autumn. However, these trees are very much a part of the middle TN landscape. My wife remembers gathering the nuts as a kid in Nov. and selling them for Christmas money. It was the only cash she saw. Up until a few years ago the large food companies would bring in dehulling machinery and buy the nuts.

Here's a link to what a black walnut seedling looks like. It could be a black walnut per the pics

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Walnut seedling pic

Yes, the nuts are the reason for growing them. My mother cracked out 67 pounds of shelled nutmeats from our 2007 crop, and probably about half that from the 2009 crop. Definitely a labor of love but very tasty. Relatives clamor for them, the irony of that being if we asked them to shell their own they would probably say it was too much work.