American Chestnut
Castanea dentata
Fagaceae
Growth habit
Tree
Perennation
Short-lived perennial
Native distribution
Native to the Finger Lakes Region, Maine to Alabama
Location
Mundy Wildflower Garden, Schnee Oak Collection, Bald Hill and Caroline Pinnacles, Cayuta Lake, Ringwood Ponds, South Hill Swamp
Source of plant
The American Chestnut Foundation, Allen Nichols, Stanley Scharf
Description
Tree to 45m with trunk to 4m in diameter. Young shoots glabrous or slightly scurfy at first. Leaves 14-22 x 4-5cm, dull green, glabrous above and beneath, oblong-lanceolate, cuneate, apex acuminate, margins with large, glandular teeth; petiole 1cm. Male catkins 10-20cm. Fruits clustered 1-3, a globose burr 5-7cm diameter, with dense slender spines; nuts mostly 2-3 in a burr.
USDA Hardiness Zone
4
Status
L3|S4|G4