American Chestnut

Castanea Dentata

There was a time when the American chestnut was the very heart of our forests. This deciduous hardwood tree reached heights up to 100-150 ft tall and 10 ft in diameter. These mighty giants grew from Maine and southern Ontario to Mississippi, and from the Atlantic coast the the Appalachian Mountains and the Ohio Valley. Many types of wildlife depended on its nuts, often falling in such abundance it carpeted the forest floor. Rural folk depended on the nuts too (as did their livestock), for they were tasty and nutritious. In addition, the American chestnut provided timber unrivalled in quality.

Straight-grained and strong, easy to work and rot resistant, chestnut lumber and was used for everything from structural barn beams to furniture. That time is gone. It is estimated that one out of four trees in the Appalachian forests was an American Chestnut prior to the arrival of the lethal chestnut blight, a fungal disease which destroys the bark tissues of the tree.

The chestnut blight was first noticed in New York City at the Bronx Zoo in 1904; some believe it was brought over sometime in the late 1800’s on Japanese chestnut trees. Asian chestnut blight moved outward at a remarkable pace; fifty years later, all that remained of the species on which so much richness of life depended were millions of acres of dead but still standing stems. By 1950, billions of American chestnut trees had been killed by this exotic fungus. Today it is estimated that there are fewer than 100 large chestnut trees with diameters of more than 24” surviving.

But the chestnut can reign again. Recent developments in genetics and plant pathology promise that this magnificent tree will again become part of our natural heritage. In 1983, responding to these developments, a group of prominent scientists established The American Chestnut Foundation.

The American Chestnut Foundation is leading the way in restoring the American chestnut tree to its native range within the woodlands of the eastern United States, using a scientific research and breeding program known as backcrossing. The goal of backcrossing is to introduce into the American chestnut the genetic material responsible for the blight resistance of the Chinese tree, and at the same time, preserve in every other way the genetic heritage of the American species.

The Old Wood Co. is a proud member of The American Chestnut Foundation.