It's always a good day when I find an American chestnut tree. It's an even better day when I find an American chestnut tree of a decent size. Admittedly, I mostly feel this way because American chestnut isn't an incredibly common species where I live. A fungal disease known as chestnut blight kills most American chestnuts. The fungus cuts off the flow of water and nutrients within trees. Starved of nutrients, the trunks of American chestnuts die. But the roots remain alive. They give rise to spr

This is a chestnut tree, but is it the Chinese chestnut or the very uncommon to find a mature American Chestnut. All my research points to Chinese but the key tipping points are the leathery leaves and visible lenticils on the twigs. Lenticils are like the pores of the tree-visible on cherry and birch trees too. I’m heading out to check on some land I won in an auction that has what I believe is an American chestnut tree, baby, but still. I’m bringing a small branch from this tree so I can compa