MASSACHUSETTS FOREST TREES 



CHESTNUT (CastaneadentataKoTkh.) 



THE Chestnut is found commonly throughout Massa- 

 chusetts, though less frequently near the sea-coast 

 than inland. Its habitat is rich, well-drained soil. A 

 rapid grower and one of the tallest and straightest of 

 our trees, it usually has a single trunk destitute of 

 limbs for a considerable distance and a rather small, 

 round head. However, when it is uncrowded, the trunk 

 often separates into several stout branches which form 

 a low, round head of great breadth. In the 

 former case it often attains a height of sixty 

 to eighty feet and has a diameter of three 

 to four feet. Most frequently it is pet with 

 in the coppice form, for it 

 is one of the trees most 

 freely reproduced from 



CHESTNUT 



Winter twig and 



buds. One-half 



natural size. 



CHESTNUT 



Leaf and fruit. One-third 

 natural size. 



sprouts. In this case it has a height of thirty 



to forty feet and a diameter of eight to 



fifteen inches. 



The bark on the trunk of a small tree is 



dark gray and smooth. On the old trunk it 

 is thick and divided by shallow furrows into broad, flat 

 ridges. On the twigs the bark is dark brown. The 

 leaves are simple, alternate, five to ten inches in length, 

 sharply toothed and dark yellow-green in color. The 

 fruit is a round, four-valved, prickly bur and con- 

 tains, as a rule, two to three dark brown nuts. The 

 wood is coarse-grained, light, soft, weak, but durable 

 when exposed to alternations of dry ness and moisture. 

 It is used in the making of furniture, for house finish- 

 ing, for railway ties, fence-posts and for fuel. 



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