Chestnut?

party_wagon · Feb 27, 2010

I was going out to mark the lines of one of the pieces of land my family owns & asking my grandmother what landmarks mark each corner. Well, for one she tells me that there is a metal pipe in the ground. However, the easy way to find it is to just go to the Big American Chestnut. I am not tree expert, but I have heard about the blight so I just head out there looking for a pipe in the ground. Well, I get back in the woods headed in the direction of the corner & come across a huge tree that really stands out. It happens to be about 20 feet from a blue pipe stuck in the ground. It is about 8-10 feet in diameter & well over 100 feet tall. Its bark looks very similar to the bark on the tree on the right in this picture.
http://ctacf.org/page.cfm/AmericanChestnutTree(scroll down to the 2nd picture)
Its sections are about the size of my arm and run a very long ways on the tree. This is in a densley wooded section so picking up leaves randomly off the ground was a mute point. However, this tree was full of buds at its top. Are there any trees that fit this description other then an American Chestnut?

John Paul Sanborn · Feb 28, 2010

You don't list your state, if you are in CT the species is so rare that UCONN does not list it on it's ID website. Out east, I'm told, the blight has relegated it to a shrub-like plant that cannot reproduce. This is true for most of the continent east of the rockies.

I'm told it can be found in the PNW still.

party_wagon · Feb 28, 2010

It's in AL, where I'm told it doesn't grow.

Paul J. · Mar 1, 2010

Chestnut

The original chestnut range includes Alabama:
http://www.ppws.vt.edu/griffin/accfhab.html

There are other introduced chestnut species and American partial hybrids that it could also be that were planted throughout the south. Double-check your identification with the information at this site:
http://www.mindspring.com/~psisco/www/overview.html
The American Chestnut Foundation now mirrors this info on their site. If you really think it's an American, contact the ACF at this page:
http://acf.org/find_a_tree.php

Paul J.

Upidstay · Mar 3, 2010

If you do in fact have an American Chestnut that big on your property, it could be a very important tree. Please go to the American Chestnut Foundation website

www.acf.org

and contact them. They are working to reintroduce the species, trying to find a blight resistant variety. This tree was virtually wiped out, with only a few surviving past 5 years old. You might just have a very significant tree.

Upidstay · Mar 5, 2010

Find out if it is actually an American Chestnut. If it is, that would be quite a find. The species was virtually wiped out years ago by blight, and the American Chestnut Foundation is working hard to reintroduce the species. If it isa real American, you might have an important tree on your hands. They are trying to find a blight resistant tree. Check out their site:

www.acf.org