American Forestry 



VOL. XXI 



UCTOBEU, 1915 



No. 262 



The American Chestnut Tree 



r>v Sa.mui:l I'l. L)i;r\vn,i:K 

 Idciitificaluni and Characlciistics 



OL'R native chestnut tree is une of our best known this reason forest-grown chestnut trees nearly always 



and best loved trees because of its beauty and liave long, straight, clear trunks, branching out into 



utility. It grows from southeastern Maine west rather small, rounded tops. In the open the trunk is 



to southern Michigan and soutii to northern Virginia, shnrt, dividing into three or four heavy horizontal 



southern Indiana and along the Appalachian Mountains liranciies to form a broad, beautifully rounded head, 



to northern Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. The The chestnut has many features that distinguish it 



bright foliage, attracti\ely-shaped leaves, toothsome nuts from its neighbors at every season of the year. Its 



and stately form give distinction and character to this grayish Ijrown liark somewhat resembles that of the red 



highly valuable commercial tree of our forests. oak because of the broad, flat, irregvilar, ridges, but is 



The finest chestnut trees in the world are found in readilv known In' the darker gray color,, deeper fissures, 





the southern Appala- 

 chian ■Mountains, espe- 

 cially in western Xorth 

 Carolina and eastern 

 Tennessee. .A tree with 

 a diameter of 17 feet 

 has been recorded 

 from Francis Cove, 

 North Carolina. Com- 

 monly, the mature trees 

 are 3 to 5 feet in di- 

 ameter and <iO to '.1(1 

 feet in height, but 

 there are numerous 

 specimens 7 feet or 

 more in diameter, 1(10 

 to 120 feet high. In 

 Pennsylvania, Xew 

 York and the Xew 

 England States chest- 

 nut trees have mostlv 

 grown from stump 

 sprouts, and are there- 

 fore comparatively 

 small. 



When growing in tlie 

 forest, a chestnut tree 

 will bear only a mod- 

 erate amount of shade, 

 and the crowding of 

 adjoining trees causes 

 the early death of the 

 lower branches. For 



From "The Silz'a of Nortli Amciica" Iry Sarifeitt; Hoiiijhtoi: Mifflin Co., Publishers, 

 LKAF AXD FRUIT OF CHESTNUT 



1. Fruiting branch. 2. Spines (enlarged). 3 and 4. Xuts. 5. Vertical section of a 

 lint. G. Kernel of nut or seed. 7. End of young twig with new leaves and un- 

 developed flowers. S. \\'inter branch. U. Bud and leaf scar. 



and the smaller and 

 more flaky scales of 

 bark on the ridges. 

 X'ery young trees have 

 smooth bark. Later the 

 ridges develop, sepa- 

 rated I)y shallow fis- 

 sures, and in old age 

 these fissures become 

 quite deep. 



The buds are one of 

 the best means of iden- 

 tifying this tree in win- 

 ter. They are dark 

 Ijrown, about one-quar- 

 ter inch long, egg- 

 shaped but usually 

 sharply pointed. The 

 buds stand singly on 

 strong-growing 

 branches. Every fifth 

 bud stands directly 

 abo\e the one from 

 which counting begins, 

 and if a string is drawn 

 from bud to bud it will 

 form a spiral, passing 

 twice around the 

 branch from the first 

 bud to the fifth one. 



After most of the 

 trees have well devel- 

 oped foliage, but be- 



957 



