Scientific Name
Castanea mollissima ‘Chinese Chestnut’
This chestnut species is resistant to the fungal blight that caused the near extinction of the American chestnut, Castanea dentata, once one of the most important and widespread forest trees in the eastern United States. Several Asian chestnut species evolved alongside the blight and developed varying degrees of resistance, in some cases approaching immunity. It was the importation of Chinese and Japanese chestnut trees in the early 20th century that introduced the blight to North America. Within 30 years, very few American chestnuts remained in their native habitat.
Today, two approaches to restoring the American chestnut are showing promise. One involves multigenerational breeding between American and Chinese chestnut trees, while the other relies on genetic modification of the remaining American chestnut genome.
Chinese chestnut has been cultivated for centuries in its native country for its edible nuts, and many cultivars have been developed for superior nut quality. The tree matures at a much smaller size than the American chestnut once did, typically reaching 40 to 60 feet tall. The leaves are oblong with toothed margins and turn yellow and bronze in the fall.
The flowers appear in June as arching catkins, with the female flowers located near the base and the male flowers toward the tips. Their fragrance has been described by some as “heavy” or “malodorous,” though others may simply find it unusual and aromatic. The fruits are extremely prickly burs 2 to 3 inches wide that contain one to four nuts. A withered flower catkin can sometimes still be seen protruding from the end of a bur. Picking up one of these spiny burs without gloves requires a very gentle touch. However, reports that the spines can pierce sneaker soles when stepped on are probably exaggerated. The husks eventually split open when the nuts are ripe, at which point they become fair game for both humans and squirrels.