Plant Family: Fagaceae
Growth Form: Formerly a large tree to over 25 meters tall, now reduced to stump sprouts.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, narrowly elliptic, coarse-toothed, green and smooth on both sides, typically 12 – 20 cm long, although leaves on sprouts may be up to 30 cm.
Bark: Gray and smooth on young trees, becoming fissured on older trees.
Flowers: Greenish-white, individually small, held on long showy catkins, the female flowers are at the base of the catkin, June to August.
Fruits: Green prickly burs ripen to brown and open to reveal 2 or 3 shiny, brown, edible nuts that are flattened on one or both sides, September to October. Formerly an important food for wildlife, the nuts were also harvested for commercial sale.
Habitat: Chestnut was a dominant tree of eastern U. S. forests, and was commonly planted in towns and villages.
Range: Throughout New England, ranging south in upland forests to Alabama and Georgia.
Similar Species: American Beech has similar leaves but they are shorter, wider in the middle, and have less prominent teeth. Dwarf Chestnut has smaller leaves that are whitish beneath, and the nuts are plump.
Comments: Chestnut blight is a disease caused by an Asian fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica) that attacks the bark, girdling and killing the trees (as shown). The blight was first discovered in New York in 1904, and within just a few decades wiped out the species; very few large trees remain. Saplings will sprout from old stumps and may reach heights of 5 or 6 meters, but they eventually succumb to the disease. There are ongoing efforts to develop blight resistant strains and return this tree to its former glory.
