Trees of New York State 173 



FAGACEAE 



Caslanca dcntatji. (Marsh.) Borkh. [Castanca vcsca, var. americana Michx.; 

 Castanca sativa, var. americana Sarg.] 



Chestnut 



Habit — An important timber species, usually 60-80 feet tall, under optimum 

 conditions sometimes 100 feet in height with a restricted crown and tall 

 columnar trunk 3-4 feet in diameter. Trees in the open have a short, 

 massive bole which soon breaks up into stout, wide-spreading limbs to 

 form a very broad, ovate, rounded head. Chestnut sprouts readily from 

 the stump after cutting (coppice growth) and it is not uncommon to find 

 several trees that have arisen from sprouts in this way, grouped about 

 an old stump. 



Leaves — Alternate, oblong-lanceolate, 6-8 inches long, li/^-2 inches wide, 

 acuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base, coarsely serrate, at maturity 

 thin, glabrous, dull, dark green above, smooth and pale yelloAv beneath, 

 borne on stout, puberulent petioles about y^ of an inch long. 



Flowers — Appearing in late June or July after the leaves have attained full 

 size, monoecious. Staminate flowers in erect deciduous aments 6-8 inches 

 long consisting of stout, grepn_ puberulous stems arising from the axils 

 of the leaves of the year or of the inner scales of the terminal bud, and 

 sessile flower chisters. Calyx campanulate, pale browu, puberulous, 6- 

 lobed. Stamens 10-20, with long, slender, white filaments and pale 

 yellow anthers. Pistillate flowers at the base of the upper androgj'nous 

 aments in clusters of 3 (2-5), each cluster enclosed in a green, sessile 

 involucre of thick, imbricated, sharp-pointed, slightly hairy scales sub- 

 tended by several bracts. Calyx hairy, adnate to the ovary, with short, 

 6-lobed limb. Pistil consisting of a 6-celled ovary surmounted by 6 white, 

 linear, spreading styles stigmatic at the apex. 



Fruit — A sessile, globose, light bro^^^l bur, 2-2^4 inches in diameter, densely 

 echinulate with branched spines and usually tomentose without, opening 

 the first autumn by 4 valves and exposing the 1-3 nuts and the velvety 

 inner surface. Nuts ovoid, laterally compressed, pubescent at the apex, 

 lustrous below, dark chestnut-brown, marked at the base by a large, pale, 

 oval scar. Kernel sweet, edible. 



Winter characters — Twigs rather stout, white-lenticellate, smooth, lustrous, 

 olive or yellowish green, at length dark brown. Terminal bud absent. 

 Lateral buds ovate, acute, divergent, dark chestnut-broA\Ti. Mature bark 

 dark brown, thick, divided by shallow fissures into broad, flat ridges scaly 

 on the surface. 



Habitat — Thrives on a -^vide variety of sites and soils but avoids a wet 

 habitat. In the north common on gravelly, well-drained, glacial soils; 

 farther south it is an inhabitant of cool mountain slopes. 



Bange — Maine westward through southern Ontario to Michigan, southward 

 to Delaware and along the mountains to Alabama, INIississippi, Kentucky 

 and Tennessee. Attains its best development in the mountains of the 

 South. Zones A, B, and G. 



Uses — An important timber tree. Wood light, soft, rather weak, coarse- 

 grained, difficult to season but very durable in contact with the soil. 

 Heartwood reddish brown; sapwood thin and pale. Largely used for 

 railroad ties, telephone and telegraph poles, fence posts, coffins, cheap 

 furniture, interior finish and as a source of tannin extract. The tree is 

 important silviculturally because of the readiness with which it may be 

 coppiced. The chestnuts of commerce are produced by this species. The 

 supply of American Chestnut has been greatly depleted through the rav- 

 ages of the chestnut-bark disease. 



