Castanea dentata

American Chestnut

[ click on any image below to see larger version ]

Family: Fagaceae

Mid-Atlantic bloom time: June - July

Mid-Atlantic fruit ripe: September - October

Once abundant and widespread, a source for food and building wood, these trees were decimated by the Chestnut Blight fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica). While the fungus doesn't kill the root system but only affects the tree above ground, today it is rare to see specimens of any significant height.

Note the straight, tall trunk, as compared to shorter, spreading trunks of other chestnut species.

6 November 2013 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (specimen 11 inches in diameter, over 40 feet tall, showing the natural tall form of the tree)	4 November 2013 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (specimen over 15 inches in diameter, about 40 feet tall)	4 November 2013 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (bark afflicted by blight)	26 June 2014 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (bark not afflicted by blight)
26 June 2014 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA	26 June 2014 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA	26 June 2014 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA	26 June 2014 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA
24 September 2015 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (ripening seed-bearing burrs)	24 September 2015 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Landmark, VA (ripe burrs that contained nuts)

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