CHESTNUT BLIGHT AND RESISTANT CHESTNUTS 
Ficure 4.—Fruiting bodies (blisters) of the chestnut blight fungus. 
SYMPTOMS OF THE DISEASE 
Yellow or brown leaves on a 
blight-infected branch, in striking 
contrast with the normal green foli- 
age, are usually the first noticed sign 
of the presence of chestnut blight. 
On a branch killed in early spring, 
the dead leaves are smaller than 
normal; on one killed later in the 
season, the dead leaves are full 
sized. The leaves and burs of a 
blighted branch usually remain at- 
tached during the winter. Dead 
chestnut branches with attached 
leaves do not, of course, always in- 
dicate chestnut blight. When the 
chestnut blight fungus is responsi- 
ble for the dying, a canker can be 
found on the dead branch or the 
trunk, usually below the lowest 
killed leaves. Water sprouts, or 
suckers, frequently develop below 
the cankers and indicate canker lo- 
cation (fig. 6). 
Yellowing, wilting, and stunting 
of leaves are symptoms of chestnut 
blight and also of Phytophthora 
root rot. This root rot is another 
fungus-caused disease that has been 
fatal to many native chestnuts and 
chinkapins in the South, especially 
at the lower elevations. Chestnut 
blight can be distinguished from 
Phytophthora root rot because 
blight-infected trees always have 
‘ankers and mycelial fans. 
Young cankers on smooth-barked, 
