The disease is recognizable by its bark lesions, which eventually girdle the trunk and kill the tree. Hot, humid weather is required for the blight to take hold. "Devastation" is not an overstatement: today, the number of American Chestnuts trees east of the Mississippi with a diameter larger than two feet is now less than 100.
Mistakes were made in attempting to manage the blight loggers destroyed resistant trees in an effort to stop the blight spread, depriving them of the chance to reproduce healthy stock. The spread of the blight resulted in billions in crop and lumber losses, as well as a decline in wildlife populations that fed off the nuts. It particularly devastated trees in the Appalachian region, where up to 25% of the trees were American Chestnuts. It spread 50 miles a year, and, within a few decades, had killed nearly three billion chestnut trees. The airborne blight was spread by downward winds. The disease was first documented in 1904 on trees in the Bronx Zoo. While the Chinese variety adapted and developed a sturdy resistance to the blight, the American chestnut was no match for it. So, what happened to them? Chestnut Blight Chestnut Blight: A Devastating Fungal Disease.Ĭhestnut decline, attributed to blight, is caused by an Asian bark fungus ( Cryphonectria parasitica), which was unknowingly imported from Asia on infected Chinese Chestnut trees. The American chestnut tree ( Castanea dentata) used to be one of the most common - and important - trees in the Eastern half of the country. but by the end of the 1930s, blight caused detrimental chestnut decline. Shop for Dunstan Chestnuts at /shop/dunstan-chestnut.The American chestnut tree was one of the most important trees in the Eastern U.S.
Watch them flourish and produce nuts year after year. If you want to sustain wildlife while also improving the land that sustains you, then plant Dunstan Chestnuts. Chestnuts played a significant role in the ecosystem, and after being wiped out, left a massive nutritional gap in American habitat. This excessive production of nutrients is an important part of the diet for many wildlife species as they prepare for winter. Photo courtesy of Chestnut Hill Outdoors.Ĭhestnut trees produce a high quantity of nuts in order to reproduce and reforest the land. Chestnut also produces nuts annually, whereas oak only produces nuts every other year. Chestnuts bear nuts in 3–5 years, compared to 10–20 years for oaks, and can produce up to 2,000 pounds per acre at maturity. This hardy, fast-growing tree has a vast growing range that stretches from Florida to Wisconsin. A Must for Quality Mastĭunstan Chestnuts are the perfect food plot tree. Dunstan’s work, we continue to share our knowledge and passion for living things by serving as a nationally-recognized leader in the introduction of new plant varieties that thrive in a range of habitats. Being no strangers to challenge, Bob and Debbi established the tree farm with the desire to reforest North America with chestnut trees. Nineteen years later, his grandson Bob started Chestnut Hill Nursery in partnership with Debbi Gaw. Dunstan took his chestnut hybrids and put down roots in Alachua, Florida in 1962. Dunstan, a well-known plant breeder then living in North Carolina, grafted the budwood onto chestnut rootstock, breeding future varieties that would eventually be called the Dunstan Chestnut.ĭr. Dunstan after discovering a single living American chestnut in a grove of dead trees in Salem, Ohio.
In the early 1950s, James Carpenter sent budwood to Dr. Photo courtesy of Chestnut Hill Outdoors.
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