This tree made the news abs supposedly the biggest one on the west coast. Went and got 4 slabs off it so far. 6 foot long 4” thick by 19” slabs here. Had to pull them out since a lot of other branches were in the way
Big America chestnut
- Thread starter motolife313
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Little over 8’ mantel pieces with this one. It’s 9”x6.250”. Tree was over 5’ diameter and possibly 500 years old
Ok, I’ll be the first to ask, was this tree taken down alive?
Fell over
link
Gone fishing
Now That,s a DIY mill arrangement; incredible simple and likewise effective.
Wonder if anyone saved nuts from this tree. If actually an American Chestnut, it may have some resistance to the blight.
Just curious, how was it determined to be American and not Chinese?
Just curious, how was it determined to be American and not Chinese?
Is there a specific way to tell it’s a American chestnut? Arborists told the homeowner it was a American
The nuts are edible.
@buzz sawyer question was a good one for anyone who knows the history of the American chestnut and the chestnut blight which devastated the species.
It was a most valuable tree which provided excellent lumber that was very rot resistant. Besides that the edible nuts were a mast crop used by many animals and humans. At one time it made up ~25% of the canopy of eastern American forests. Someone once said a squirrel could start in Georgia and go to Maine, never touching the ground, using chestnut trees.
There is an effort by many trying to find blight resistant trees that are still alive, and breed them to revive the species
https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=CAAM2
The Fight Against Blight
The American Chestnut Foundation
thanks!!!!!
https://www.ehow.com/list_7105279_differences-american-chinese-chestnut-trees.html
I will post pics of the wood from both species.
I will post pics of the wood from both species.
If anyone is interested... American Chestnut Foundation
https://acf.org/
I've got a couple chestnut trees in my yard. I sent samples of leaves and nuts to ACF to find out if it was a hybrid American/Chinese or just Chinese. They advised it's a hybrid... the chestnuts are smaller than a pure American chestnut would yield. Unfortunately the trees attracted an ever growing number of Asians who completely lacked boundaries... They'd be out there at 6 AM and at 10:30 PM with flashlights. They were also in my dentist neighbor's yard tromping through his landscaping looking for chestnuts that fell from my tree. His wife was perfectly willing to file trespassing charges if it continued... I told various groups of the trespassers to stop and allegedly they couldn't speak English... Who wants strangers in your yard and in the landscaping next to your house at all hours of the day and night?! I finally posted my yard and spoke with the police. The first night it was posted there was a guy out there with a flashlight... I called the cops but he split before the cops got there... The human invasion finally stopped so my son, the deer, and the squirrels had the nuts to themselves. The catkins and burrs are a hassle but the nuts are nice!
https://acf.org/
I've got a couple chestnut trees in my yard. I sent samples of leaves and nuts to ACF to find out if it was a hybrid American/Chinese or just Chinese. They advised it's a hybrid... the chestnuts are smaller than a pure American chestnut would yield. Unfortunately the trees attracted an ever growing number of Asians who completely lacked boundaries... They'd be out there at 6 AM and at 10:30 PM with flashlights. They were also in my dentist neighbor's yard tromping through his landscaping looking for chestnuts that fell from my tree. His wife was perfectly willing to file trespassing charges if it continued... I told various groups of the trespassers to stop and allegedly they couldn't speak English... Who wants strangers in your yard and in the landscaping next to your house at all hours of the day and night?! I finally posted my yard and spoke with the police. The first night it was posted there was a guy out there with a flashlight... I called the cops but he split before the cops got there... The human invasion finally stopped so my son, the deer, and the squirrels had the nuts to themselves. The catkins and burrs are a hassle but the nuts are nice!
In the past, we've harvested nuts from Chinese Chestnuts at our camp. While in storage, we noticed small white worms coming out of the nuts and were told an insect layed their eggs in the flowers and the worms grew inside the nuts. I was never able to confirm this but we never saw any entry holes. The trees are 60+ years old. One came down in a storm around 5 years ago - 24" diameter at the base. Because the tree was growing at an extreme slant, the wood began to split as soon as it was cut. I was able to salvage some short pieces that seem to be solid.
Yeah... worms are a problem. If you soak the nuts in water for a few days it will kill them...
I've salvaged some branch wood and made small keepsake boxes from them.I know of a couple of chestnut trees in the area; gathered nuts a few times and always had worms in them. I was hoping to get a few started on my property. If soaking them in water kills the worms, is there a chance the nuts will germinate? Or are they still edible?
Once at a yard sale where there were chestnuts in the yard, the homeowner said you really don't want chestnuts as yard trees.
Once at a yard sale where there were chestnuts in the yard, the homeowner said you really don't want chestnuts as yard trees.
Probably not the best yard tree. Some don't care for the smell of the flowers and the prickly hulls hang around for a while - not good with bare feet.
They are edible from what we've experienced. I end up with volunteer chestnut trees in my shrub beds every year... however, I cannot say if there were worms in those nuts.
They are messy for sure... I recall burrs littering a yard I mowed as a kid. I have no idea if they were American or Chinese trees. The property had been a pig farm until the early '50s and there were still barns, vegetable gardens and fruit trees on the property though all suffered from neglect.
As I understand it, the trees on my property were from nuts picked up from a couple trees located at a house where they were planted as ornamental trees in the late '50s or early '60s. I know the house well... the first girl I ever kissed lived there.
Her father was a neurosurgeon who had hired help for things like yard work. As such, he could enjoy the cycle of leaf out, catkins, burrs, etc. without experiencing them physically!Thanks, GrizzG, it's probably too late in the season to find any of the nuts around here this year. I'll try to remember this for next year.
