The American chestnut tree produces a sweet, flavorful nut.
American chestnut trees (Castanea dentate) once covered the hills and mountains across the Eastern United States. They almost vanished because of chestnut blight, a fungus introduced from Asia in the 1800s. American chestnut trees once grew to 100 feet tall with 10-foot-diameter trunks. Through scientific efforts, resistant trees are coming back into American landscapes. The description of the American chestnut tree makes it clear why many work so diligently to bring them back into use. Does this Spark an idea?
About American Chestnut Trees
The American chestnut is a native tree of America that grew from Maine to Michigan, through Illinois and Indiana and south to Alabama and Mississippi. Its wide-spreading branches grew among oak, birch, hickory and maple on hills and slopes. It has a soft, reddish-brown wood that is lightweight and easy to split, and so it was useful for posts, railroad ties and rail fences. The nuts of the tree are sweet and flavorful and were used as a food source, both for humans and for forest creatures. The chestnut blight fungus put an end to this food source, as the trees began to die before they were old enough to flower and produce fruit. The American chestnut tree was rich in tannins, a chemical used in tanning leather.
Trunk
The trunk of the American chestnut is straight and upright with spreading branches. New, resistant varieties rarely grow above 15 feet tall, much shorter than their ancestral type. The bark is smooth and green when the tree is young but becomes a dark brown with ridges and scales when older.
Leaves & Flowers
The leaves of the American chestnut tree are narrower than they are long, giving them an elongated look. They are smooth on both surfaces and about 5 to 8 inches long, with pointed, curved teeth on the edges. They are shiny green on the upper surface and a paler color on the underside and pinnately veined. The flowers emerge along with the leaves in the spring. The male flower stands upright and is whitish or yellowish-green on 6- to 8-inch catkins. The female flower is whitish or yellowish-green with shorter catkins.
Fruit
The fruit of the American chestnut tree is a large, round husk with spines that are flat on one side and pointed at one end. The dark-colored nut inside is about 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter with a sweet flavor. It ripens in the early fall.
Tags: American chestnut, American chestnut tree, chestnut tree, back into, blight fungus, chestnut blight
