American Chestnut
Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.
Mature Size: Formerly, up to 100 feet in height and 4 feet in diameter; now, typically reaches 20 feet in height and 4 inches in diameter.
Form: Once a well-formed, massive tree with a dense, rounded crown; now found mostly as stump sprouts, less than 20 feet tall; larger stems deformed by chestnut blight may sprout below wounds.
Habitat: Moist upland forests.
Leaves
Alternate, simple, 5 to 8 inches long, with coarse, sharply pointed teeth along the edges.
Flowers
Males small, pale green (nearly white), in 6 to 8 inch hanging catkins; females at base of catkins (near twigs); flowers have an unpleasant odor.
Fruit
Very sharp, prickly burr 2 to 2½ inches long, each containing 2 or 3 shiny, round, brown, sweet nuts ½ to 1 inch long.
Bark
Light gray, with broad, flat ridges and fissures that often form a spiral around the trunk.
Twigs
Moderately thick, hairless, chestnut- to orange-brown in color with many lighter pores; buds orange-brown, ¼ inch long, covered with 2 or 3 scales and resembling kernels of wheat; leaf scars semicircular.
Values and Uses
The wood is coarse-grained, similar to oak but lacking the distinct rays in the wood. It is very resistant to decay; in fact, chestnut split-rail fences are still standing in some parts of Virginia. The tree was once valued for lumber, furniture, flooring, poles, posts, fence rails, railroad ties, tannins and fuel. The nuts were a major food source for humans, livestock and a wide variety of wildlife.
Did You Know?
At one time, American chestnut was a dominant forest species in much of Virginia. The chestnut blight fungus (introduced around 1904) killed most trees within a few decades, thereby changing the composition of entire forests. Many of the old stumps continue to sprout to this day, sometimes reaching 20 feet and producing a few nuts before being killed by the blight cankers. Research and development of resistant varieties is ongoing and shows promise for reintroduction of the species.
