I had cut down a mistaken hickory last year. Hickory down It was actually a chestnut of the American branch. Here's the current state of sprout growth. ~10-12 feet high. Peeking at the sprouts I figure I'll thin out the sprouts this fall. Maybe remove half. I used the ID app and it spit this out. I aimed the camera at these leaves.
Drove by a "strange" tree that i recognized as a chestnut in bloom. Not sure of the variety. Ill have to get a pic as i go that way often. Thanks for the education Eric!
Right up the road from your buddy’s house last year I spotted a Chinese chestnut close to where the power lines cross the road. Then there’s another one 1/8 mile further up the road in someone’s yard. Not that I’m looking for them everywhere I go or anything
Great to see it’s still growing vigorously. That was the key to their dominance for thousands of years. They outpaced their oak and beech cousins, as well as most native trees.
LOL!!! I know the feeling. Ms. buZZsaw yells at me when im driving "Stop looking at trees and eyes on the road"
Oops, yeah now I see. Same location though or far apart from each other? I'd like to grow a few Chinese trees since the ones I stored in pots over the winter failed.
Randomly stumbling across a surviving roadside American chestnut loaded with burs never gets old for me. If the trees can sexually reproduce on their own, even in small numbers, there’s reason to be hopeful. They may be functionally extinct, but here and there, hiding in plain sight, you can find them very much alive, if only for a brief window of time.
Amazes me how you can pick them out like that. I really had to study the pic. Gonna have to give me a lesson or two.
I like Eric Wanderweg am always looking for American Chestnuts. Been doing it since a kid. I also spot them driving. Finding another one is a small victory.
I’ve planted about 15 Dunsten Chestnuts in the past 2 years. Just picked up 4 more yesterday that are in 7 gallon containers. We got our first nuts this summer!
Nice! Those should produce well for many years to come. Being from Missouri, do you ever come across any surviving Ozark Chinquapins?
This guy in upstate New York is growing a few chinquapins, along with many different cultivars of chestnuts from pure American to hybrids of varying degrees.
I checked out the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation’s website. They don’t like clay soil so that pretty much rules my property out for future attempts to grow any. Wasnt aware of this tree or it’s story so I’m now educated thanks to Eric!
My seedlings that were planted in March have done well this year, the tallest reaching about 2’ high. Now that the trees are going dormant I decided to find a permanent spot for 3 of them, along the rock wall near the edge of my property. The rest will be donated to the CT chapter of TACF, and whatever they don’t take I’ll do some rogue planting with out in the wild.
