American chestnut

American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) is a species of chestnut native to eastern North America. Before the species was devastated by the chestnut blight, a fungal disease, it was one of the most important forest trees throughout its range and was considered the finest chestnut tree in the world.

History

The American Chestnut was once the most prevalent tree in the eastern United States. Its range extended from Maine and southern Ontario to Mississippi, and from the Atlantic coast to the Appalachian Mountains and the Ohio Valley. The American Chestnut was an important part of the forest ecosystem, providing food for a wide variety of wildlife and livestock.

In the early 20th century, the species was devastated by chestnut blight, a disease caused by the Asian bark fungus Cryphonectria parasitica. The disease was first noticed on American chestnut trees in the New York Zoological Park, now known as the Bronx Zoo, in 1904. By 1940, mature American Chestnut trees were virtually wiped out by the disease.

Characteristics

The American Chestnut is a large, monoecious deciduous tree that can grow up to 30 meters tall. The leaves are simple, ovate or oblong, 10–30 cm long and 4–8 cm broad. The flowers are produced in catkins, with the male catkins being 10–20 cm long and the female catkins 1–2 cm long. The fruit is a spiny cupule 5–11 cm in diameter, containing one to three nuts.

Conservation Efforts

Efforts to breed a blight-resistant American Chestnut have been ongoing since the 1930s. The American Chestnut Foundation (ACF) and the American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation (ACCF) are two organizations that have been working to develop a blight-resistant American Chestnut through backcross breeding and other methods.

See Also

• Chestnut
• Chestnut blight
• American Chestnut Foundation
• American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation