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TREE ANCESTORS 



American chestnut or Castanea americana, now known as Castanea 

 dentata, from the shape of its leaves. We have two additional 

 chestnuts in southeastern Xorth America — the Chinquapin or 

 Castanea piimila, which ranges from southern Pennsylvania to 

 northern Florida and eastern Texas, and the shrubby Castanea 

 nana of the southern States. 



Fig. 30. Sketch Map Showing Distribution of the Existing Genus 

 Pasania and the Extinct Genus Dryophyllum 



Our common and better known American tree, which ranges from 

 southern Maine to Michigan and in the Appalachian uplands to 

 Alabama and Mississippi, has never been cultivated like its Euro- 

 pean relative except for ornamental planting in grounds and 

 parks. In recent years the chestnut blight has been sweeping its 

 range, and the rising generation will scarcely know its beauty or the 



