American Chestnut

[walhondingnashua]

So there has been some discussion about American Chestnut on another thread lately. My dad and I were driving around in a place on our farm that no one goes to very often and noticed this. We have not seen American Chestnut very much and definitely not in a long long time. They are growing out of a root system and some stumps. Nothing bigger then 8-10" in diameter and I think there were about 5 of them. No chestnuts. We aren't positive because of lack of exposure to them so verification would be appreciated.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Yes, you are correct in your observation. American Chestnuts continue to sprout from stumps well over 100 years old. Chestnut Blight does not kill the root system so it lives on providing the sprouts you see. They will get big enough to bear nuts, but they'd are usually sterile. After a few years or so the sprouts will develop the cankers associated with the blight fungus and may continue like that for many years. I've seen American Chestnuts in the wild close to 16" DBH not real healthy but still surving. It is hoped that they will develop a resistance after so many years fighting it. There appears to be some movement in this direction with cross breeding with the Chineese verity and so forth.

 

[walhondingnashua]

I have been considering buying some of the crosses. Any idea why these trees are sterile? It would be fantastic if they produced chestnuts.

 

[Ashful]

I’m in the process of planting another two dozen trees, and part of the order was put on hold until spring. All of this recent talk of Chestnuts has me thinking I may switch some of that spring planting over to one of the resistant varieties of Chestnuts.

 

[Simonkenton]

Yes that is chestnut. A sad remnant of the once-magnificent chestnut forest that used to blanket the eastern US.

My brother and I are growing Dunstan chestnuts that we get from Chestnut Hill in Florida.
We started 6 years ago and we have many 20 foot or taller trees. Chestnut harvest is right now!
My brother has just harvested 10 pounds of nuts and will probably get 10 pounds more in the next 2 weeks.

So that, in 10 more years, we will be seeing a harvest of 500 to 1,000 pounds of chestnuts. Merry Christmas, for the deer, raccoons, turkeys, and bear.

 

[CincyBurner]

https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=21

 

[trguitar]

I had some real American chestnut at my last house. This photo does not look like American chestnut to me. Possibly chestnut oak, or chinkapin oak?

American chestnut leaf has a lance-shaped tip, and coarse forward hooked teeth at the edge of the leaf. The leaf edges in your photo are too rounded.

 

[Dtunes]

Definitely not American Chestnut, looks like chinkapin or chestnut oak. American Chestnut's leaves aren't that glossy and are very thin like rice paper almost.

 

[Kevin Weis]

On second look I agree, not American chestnut.

 

[billb3]

Go back in May/June next year and see if they have the long flowers.