Chestnut trees are found in Europe, China, Japan and America. All four species can be found in the United States with the American chestnut or American chestnut hybrids being the most common. Hybrids are produced when American chestnuts are crossed with European, Chinese or Japanese chestnuts. In the 1900s chestnut blight was brought from Asia to the United States. Our native chestnuts have no resistance to chestnut blight and have been disappearing from forests and yards. Scientists are working to find a hybrid that is resistant to chestnut blight but still retains the characteristics of our native chestnut. American chestnuts are native to the northeastern United States from Maine to Georgia and are best known for growing along the Adirondack trail.
Instructions
1. Step back and examine the entire tree. Look for upright growing branches on slender trunks with the limbs restricted to the top 1/2 to 1/3 of the tree.
2. Examine the top of the leaves. American chestnut leaves are pendulous, light green and matte or dull rather than shiny or waxy and very thin. Leaves are canoe shaped (pointed or lance shaped at the tip, wider in the middle, and acute where they attach to the stem) and can be 5 to 10 inches long. Leaves are short-stemmed and prominently veined, with coarse marginal teeth.
3. Examine the underside of the leaves. The underside of American chestnut leaves are speckled with lighter colored dots. Long "hairs" can be found growing sparsely out of the midrib. Both the dots and hairs can be seen without the aid of a magnifying glass.
4. Examine the twigs. Twigs are new growth and will be slender, reddish tan to reddish brown colored, with smooth bark.
5. Look for the buds in early spring rather than the leaves. American chestnut buds are smooth, typically 6 millimeters long, taper to a point, and are longer than they are wide. Buds are the same reddish brown as the twigs. They stick out from the twig at an angle and grow asymmetrically along the twig.
6. Look for groups of cylindrical pale yellow to light tan catkins in June that are the same size or slightly longer than the leaves.
Tags: American chestnut, chestnut blight, United States, American chestnut leaves, American chestnuts, chestnut American
