for those of you with them, mine have began fallen yesterday, I ate them before the animals got them, great way to draw deer into bow range.

Yep. I always wander how they get them out of the prickly hulls without getting a really sore mouth. Last year, I was in sandal's with no hammer or such, and decided to stomp them to crack the prickly hull. Worked fine until I got really into it and lost my sandal mid stomp. I highly advise against that to anyone. God Bless

Thought those were all dead except "horse chestnuts," which I was told are poisonous???

Chinese are resistant to the blight. Plenty of those planted for ornaments and wildlife. I actually see the American Chestnut daily. Lots the size of softballs. Unfortunately, the host to the Blight is the Oak species. So, inevitably they get blisters and die before most reach volleyball size due to our forest stands here being so heavy to oak. God Bless

my trees are chinese, they grow quick and produce in 2-3yrs, no to long of a wait. the deer come in the yard for them , I have a few in the back acre , there small. I may have 40 in pots.

The original source of the fungus is still debated, but most say it was from imported Japanese chestnuts. The fungus was discovered prior to Chinese chestnuts being imported.

Some oaks can be hosts to the fungus but it is spread from chestnut tree to chestnut tree by wind, insects, birds and animals, etc.. Removing oaks will not improve a chestnut tree's chances of survival, it is toast with or without oaks.

It is interesting to note, that Maurice Thompson was on a chestnut collecting trip when he became lost and encountered the hermit Thomas Williams, who later taught him and brother Will Thompson the finer points of archery. The chestnut was an extremely important tree to the mountain folk of North Georgia and a "money" crop for them.

there are suposed tobe some americans still alive in washington state, be pretty rare to find a bow mad from one

They are trying to cross the Chinese chestnut tree with the wild chestnut trees to produce a more blight resistant tree.

I go to Penn State Right now, in my last year, and we talked about this just yesterday in my one class, haha. My professor said that a researcher at the university has crossed the american and chinese strains, ultimately making a tree that will be 99% american chestnut but resistant to the blight. The trees are now only 10 years old but they don't really start to show signs until they are 20-30 years old so it will be a while until they find out if the trees are resistant and can start to be planted.

It is also interesting to note that all the american chestnut trees you see are growing from the roots of trees of past. Because the trees very rarely reach maturity, they don't produce the seed to start a new tree, so technically the roots under the ground are hundreds of years old as the blight only affects the visible tree

I agree with Liquid Amber, in time they are toast, regardless of their location. However, I can show you lots the size of volley balls in hemlock stands, while one the size of a baseball is rare in the typical oak stand. So, close proximity to an oak stand definitely shortens their life. Regardless, sooner or later, the wind will get the fungus on it and it will die.

A nursery in Michigan has had some success in developing a tree that shows signs of resistance. That has been 20 years ago so, I'm not sure who is leading the research now.

Grouse, in most deciduous forest, most ever tree you see have been regenerated from stump sprouts the same way. It is why replanting trees after a timber harvest in a deciduous forest is fruitless. God Bless

There was an article recently in the Tennessee Magazine about the efforts to hybridize the American chestnut. It is a multi generational maybe even multi century effort if I remember correctly. Nice to know people still work on things they see as beneficial even if they will not see the end result.

I have not studied this issue, but can remember my dad talking to my granddad about the loss of the chestnuts. I guess I never realized the profound impact this had and what a devastating natural disaster this was. It seems that black bears were fond of them according to the article. There must have been more chestnut trees than I thought.

If there were as many as indicated in the article then it must have been a valuable resource to the nomadic peoples centuries ago. We still have lots of oak where they haven't been replaced with pine but acorns require processing to be viable food. You can't just pick them up and eat them due to tannins (as I understand it). I tried a couple when younger; not edible as found(red oak).

The fungus shortens their life. Oaks were here long before the fungus. What do you mean by size of a volley ball or baseball?

I figured the size of a volleyball meant how round the trunk was as in diameter. Could be wrong on my part though.

By the way, anyone want some seedlings, just come and get them, I even have some pawpaws. I dont recall the date when the blight hit nj, but I was young, and remember picking them from the ground and roasting them . I also remember how mad my dad was when they died. I 'm in berkeley county sc and the trees are 1'-18".

Yep. Diameter at Breast Height is the proper term. But, unless you measure trees for a living, it usually confuses people. Amber, I see your confusion from my mis-spoken use of "host". By host, I meant home, not one that is severely affected by it. Even though live oak are. Just poorly put by me.

rman, I'd love to get some Paw-Paws. This winter, if you remove them from the soil, wrap roots in wet newspaper, box them and mail them, I'd pay you for some and make the shipping and handling right. PM me if interested please.

God Bless

Okay, out of the billions of American chestnuts that died due to the blight, there was a handful of trees that for some reason were blight resistant. There are less than 25 mature trees. The American chestnut foundation has taken these mother trees and crossed them with a Chinese chestnuts to get a tree that is about 93% American or 15/16 American chestnut. From cross breeding since the late 80's they have started to replant these trees back into the wild to see if they will be viable. Another team is trying to isolate the gene that is responsible for the blight. They are still trying to get approval from the FDA, EPA and one other goverment agency. There method is to genetic engineer a blight resistant American. Back in the 50's, a dr dunston crossbreed American with Chinese chestnuts to get a hybrid tree. These Dunstons are sold by real tree nurseries as wildlife chestnuts. I have a pair of 15/16 Americans that I won in a raffle, I had to sign a germination agreement. I have also raised several dunston chestnuts from seed and have them planted on edges around the farm. The dunston needs sunlight and grows like a maple tree. The Americans grow like oaks in the woods reaching for the sunlight. Hopefully, I will be able to have Americans that are blight resistant in a few years.

had one dunston, it didn't make it.

I planted 6 Dunston's this spring...so far so good.

Dunstan is the chestnut for the present. I have several of them, and want another one or two. I also have Pawpaws, Japanese Arrow Bamboo, Osage, Tonkin Cane, and Chi. That's a good mix...,eat the Pawpaws and Chi, make arrows and garden stakes from the JAB, and bows from the Tonkin Cane and Osage. Live is great when you plan ahead. Wish that I had done it sooner.

I was surprised to learn there's a dwarf chestnut (Castanea pumila) in the southeast US that isn't wiped out from the blight. The nuts are much smaller but it's supposed to be a good plant for deer , turkey, rabbits, etc.

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