Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

smartest_kobold t1_isdd33h wrote

There's one adult American chestnut in Farmington. If you've found another that would be interesting.

11

[deleted] t1_isdh349 wrote

Any idea why just the one? Disease?

2

njp9 t1_isdj1qc wrote

Yes, almost all chestnuts in the US we're killed by a fungus brought in with Chinese chestnuts in the first half of the 20th century. They still sprout up from remaining roots but usually die off before bearing fruit as the fungus attacks them as they get older. There are several projects being carried out that seek to restore American Chestnuts to eastern forests and a few trees in isolated locations that remain.

9

[deleted] t1_isdjaso wrote

Thanks.

That's a shame though I hope folks smarter than me can find a solution to restore them

6

njp9 t1_isdjtnd wrote

Yes, lots of smart people working on it at SUNY ESF. If you like to read, the first chapter of The Overstory by Richard Powers has a beautiful and tragic telling of the story of the American Chestnut.

9

[deleted] t1_isdk1zr wrote

Just threw that book in my Amazon cart. Looks interesting. Thanks again

4

JCEkard88 t1_iselk4e wrote

Good story in NY Times on 9/16/2022 that documents the effort to resurrect the American chestnut tree in Appalachia.

5

Sigogglin1 t1_ise7qme wrote

I use to volunteer for the forestry department of Kentucky replanting native trees on strip mine sites. We would plant an American Chestnut hybrid which if I remember correctly was 90 percent American and 10 percent Chinese. The hybrid was way more resilient to the disease.

3

Ket406 t1_isdxdy8 wrote

Check out the AmericanChestnut Foundation. They do research on finding varieties resistant to blight. Your info could be valuable to them.

11

WanderingMindTravels t1_iseg4y8 wrote

What you saw is most likely the European chestnut. There are somewhat common. The American Chestnut was wiped out by disease, as others have said. The interesting thing about the disease is that it only kills the trees once they reach maturity and start producing nuts. Because they live several years before reaching maturity, it allows the roots to survive and keep regrowing. They usually never get bigger than 5-8 feet high. I live near Bear Brook State Park and have seen a number of the immature American chestnuts.

6

diamondd1974 t1_isdfclv wrote

Horse chestnut prob! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesculus_hippocastanum

5

thishasntbeeneasy OP t1_isdfrbn wrote

Interesting. That says the nuts are .75 to 1.5", but I think what I saw was more like 2 to 2.5". I'll have to go back and actually measure these and get a better picture. It's not far from a road but in an area few people would stumble upon.

5

njp9 t1_isdj4am wrote

Could it be a shagbark hickory?

3

reficius1 t1_isg3vwf wrote

Take a picture of the nuts and a couple of leaves and post here.

3

GraniteGeekNH t1_isgsax9 wrote

There are two parallel efforts to restore the American chestnut - a long-running effort to cross breed w/ Chinese chestnut, which is resistant to the blight, and a newer effort that implants a gene from grass (maybe wheat?) that neutralizes the effect of the blight. The GMO tree is close to getting permission for release into the wild, although the anti-GMO folks are fighting it.

3

TJsName t1_isda8ij wrote

I am imagining it now.

1