Castanea dentata

American Chestnut

[ click on any image below to see larger version ]

Family: Fagaceae (Beech family)

Mid-Atlantic bloom time: June - July

Mid-Atlantic fruit ripe: September - October

Once abundant, widespread, and a valuable source for food and wood, American Chestnut trees were decimated by the Chestnut Blight fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica). While the fungus only affects the tree above ground, it doesn't kill the root system. Consequently, viable rootstocks continue to send up shoots, which usually become infected and succumb to the fungus before they can reach any significant height. Today it is rare to see specimens that are either uninfected or able to withstand the blight.

American Chestnut trees, when not appreciably significantly affected by the blight, have straight, tall trunks, as compared to shorter, spreading trunks of other chestnut species.

6 November 2013 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (specimen 11 inches in diameter, over 40 feet tall, showing the natural tall form of the tree)	4 November 2013 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (specimen over 15 inches in diameter, about 40 feet tall)	4 November 2013 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (bark afflicted by blight)	26 June 2014 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (bark not afflicted by blight)
26 June 2014 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA	26 June 2014 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA	26 June 2014 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA	26 June 2014 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA
25 June 2026 Shenandoah National Park (Central District), VA	25 June 2026 Shenandoah National Park (Central District), VA (tree shoot still able to produce leaves and catkins)	25 June 2026 Shenandoah National Park (Central District), VA (catkins)	24 September 2015 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (ripening seed-bearing burrs)
24 September 2015 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (ripe burrs that contained nuts)	24 July 2024 Dickey Ridge Visitor Center, Shenandoah National Park, VA (old American Chestnut lumber)	24 July 2024 Dickey Ridge Visitor Center, Shenandoah National Park, VA (old American Chestnut lumber)

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