American Chestnut (Castanea denata)

The American Chestnut, although historically abundant in the Carolinian region of southern Ontario and the eastern United States, does not share the same success and glory today as it has previously over its life history. In the year 1904, an introduced disease commonly known as Chestnut Blight, which is believed to have been inadvertently introduced to North America on lumber brought over from Asia, has decimated the population of the American Chestnut. Over the last century this extremely common tree has virtually been eliminated from its former range. Few healthy trees remain, most are small suckers which grow from the root systems of trees that have died.

This species is designated as endangered under provincial and federal legislation, which protects this tree and its habitat from further destruction.Due to this infectious, air-born fungus that attacks all aerial portions of the American Chestnut, wild specimens are becoming rarer and rarer as the root systems of older trees run out of energy and fail to produce new trees that can bear fruit before the fungus kills the new growth.

For more information on the American Chestnut and what is being done to help save the species from certain extinction, please visit the Canadian Chestnut Council website and see how you can help protect one of the most biologically and economically significant trees in the entire history of eastern North America!

The leaves of the American Chestnut are very similar to American Beech (Fagus grandiflora) and uncoincidentally, these two trees are part of the same family, Fagaceae, which also incorporates Oaks. American Beech leaves do not have as many teeth as this tree, nor are they this pointed.

The edges of the leaves bear distinct, hooked teeth which is responsible for its botanical name dentata, which means "teeth" in Latin. Notice the very pointed tip, the rounded base, and how the leaf is widest above the middle length. These leaves grow alternately.

Bark is broken into distinct criss-crossing, deeply cut furrows that form a diamond-like pattern on very mature trees. On this young sapling, this pattern can be seen beginning to form.

Very young bark is smooth, glossy and greenish-brown in color.

The fruit of the American Chestnut, is of course, Chestnuts! These are smaller than Chestnuts commonly available at supermarkets (usually derived from plantations of the Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa), which is native to Europe) and more rounded, with a less flattened upper and lower surface. The husks are covered in a thick layer of long, pointed spikes that protect the developing fruit from scavenging animals. When ripe, usually after the first frost, the husk splits open and release 1-3 (usually 2) Chestnuts.