Found this up on the mountain today. I'm pretty sure it's an American Chestnut. Any tree experts out there care to weigh in?
Checked my tree book looks like it.
Yup, looks like it. See them occasionally out and about, but they very seldom mature beyond about 4"-6" DBH. About as soon as they start producing nuts they get the blight. They gro from the old root systems.
How big was yours?
I saw one today too. Only about 2", it's nice to see one though. We did a survey around my hometown a while back and there was an adjoiner who had 3 American Chestnuts at least 20" each!!! They were the only mature ones this young bucks ever seen! :-$
About 2" DBH maybe 10-12 feet high.
The U.S. Forest Service and the American Chestnut Foundation are currently working to restore the American Chestnut with a blight resistant variety. Check out their web sites. The USFS used to ask for information about any large American Chestnut trees that are living (back in the late 70's early 80's we used to notify them when we came across any that were at least 6" DBH). I don't know if they are still looking for that info now but they were interested in studying the conditions that allowed the tree to survive the blight.
My dad told me when he and my grandfather went squirrel hunting (late 1920's) they would sometimes come across areas in the forest where the ground was covered in chestnuts. I got to see something similar about 30 years ago when I was surveying up the side of a mountain. The tree was only about 6 to 8" DBH and was starting to show signs of the blight. It was pretty amazing the amount of burrs and nuts that one tree dropped on the ground.
Phil
Thanks for the info. I'll have to see if the land owner cares if I can harvest a twig and take some pictures...
