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At one time, chestnut trees grew in large numbers across the
American east coast. Then, in about 1906 a fungal disease
called chestnut blight (Endothia parasitica) was introduced into New York on some
nursery stock. In the following decades, about 3.5 billion
chestnut trees were killed. Although small groups of trees
may have escaped, the vast majority of this species is gone.
Note that this is a disease of the true American chestnut
tree which is the species,
Castanea
dentata. These are the ones that produced the nuts from
the song, "Chestnuts roasting in an open fire...".
These are NOT the common horsechestnut
which is the species
Aesculus hippocastanum. The fruit of
this common tree are actually poisonous.
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Chestnut blight is what
is called a canker disease. A canker is like an open
wound that kills the
cambium layer just beneath the
bark. If the canker expands all the way around a stem or
trunk, it will kill the stem or the entire tree.
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For many decades, plant breeders at a number of
universities have been trying to find a strain of
American chestnut that is resistant to this disease.
This is an extremely long process since the plants must
be grown from seeds. Progress is being made but to date,
there is no evidence of a truly resistant American
chestnut available.
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Note: We
have provided some general information and
observations on this topic aimed at the home
gardener. Before you take
any serious action in your landscape, check
with your state's land grant university's
Cooperative
Extension
Service for the most current,
appropriate, localized recommendations. |
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Along with the American tree, the European chestnut,
Castenae sativa, is also very susceptible to the
disease. The Chinese chestnut,
C.
mollissima
and the Japanese chestnut,
C.crenata,
are resistant but their nuts, while nice, are not the
same as the American chestnut.
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