THE OAK AND CHESTNUT 143 



excellence of its fruit, which in flavor greatly surpasses that of the 

 Old World tree. It seems probable, however, that the shoots 

 from old stumps or present day seedhngs will grow into trees with 

 more or less immunity to the bhght, and that the species will not 

 become entirely extinct. 



The wood of all of the chestnuts is coarse grained, and not to 

 ■be compared with the better kinds of oak. In an old English work 

 on trees we read "The chestnut is of Httle value for timber." The 

 wood is hght and soft and liable to check and warp. It contains 

 much tannin and is consequently very durable in contact with 

 the soil, and was hence much used for posts, cross ties, etc. The 

 blight has caused large quantities to be cut and used as fuel. 

 Burned in the grate it crackles and throws sparks, but is very 

 cheery and satisfactory if screened, 



Nonnally the tree reached a height of about 100 feet, and a 

 trunk diameter of 3 or 4 feet, and occasionally of 10 to 12 feet. 

 It is said by Sargent to reach its largest size in the Great Smoky 

 Mountain region of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. 

 The leaves are similar to those of some of the oaks, but preserve 

 the ancestral Dryophyllum form much better than most of the 

 living members of the family. They are also not so varied in the 

 past as were the oaks, which is natural enough since the latter are 

 still a more varied and vigorous stock, and one which has repeatedly 

 passed through periods of evolutionary activity in the past. 



A species of chestnut has been described from the Upper Creta- 

 ceous of Saxony, but it is probably a Dryophyllum, as are several 

 of the supposed chestnuts from the Eocene, notably those recorded 

 from western Greenland. There are, however, several undoubted 

 chestnuts found in the Eocene in North America, France and 

 Italy. Six or 8 have been described but there remains great un- 

 certainty regarding their specific limits. The Oligocene has 

 furnished the remains of 4 species in southern Europe. Thirteen 

 nominal species have been recorded from Miocene deposits. The 

 leaves, and in some cases the fruits, have been found fossil in beds 

 of this age in France, Germany, Italy, Silesia, Styria, Croatia, 

 Carinthia, Austria, Hungary, Transylvania, and Gahcia injEurope. 



