Have you ever seen a producing American Chestnut tree?  Probably not, sorry, you only missed them by a few decades. Still, at one time, the American Chestnut Tree filled America’s eastern forests and supported a variety of life forms (human and otherwise).  However, a devastating fungus disease which became known as the “chestnut blight” was accidentally introduced into the U S by the planting of an Asian chestnut tree (it had developed immunity to the disease) in New York City’s Central Park near the beginning of the 20^th century. As a result, by 1950 the chestnut blight had killed practically every mature American Chestnut tree on the continent.

The American Chestnut tree was a very reliable and productive tree; unaffected by seasonal frosts, it was the single most important food source for a wide variety of life forms, including humans, bears, elk, deer, blue jays and turkeys.   Rural areas depended upon the annual nut harvest as a cash crop and for feeding livestock.   The tree typically bloomed in June or early July with a milky white blossom display that was often referred to as “summer snow” because of the carpet of flowering blossoms laden upon the mountain tops.

The chestnut lumber industry was a major sector of rural economies as well.  Chestnut wood is straight-grained and easily worked, lightweight and highly rot-resistant; making it ideal for fence posts, railroad ties, barn beams, and for constructing houses.  The bark was even used in leather tanneries. The American Chestnut tree was therefore often called “the perfect tree”.

In times past, magnificent American Chestnut trees dominated the forested hills and mountains over much of the eastern U. S., from the south of Maine to the northern sections of Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia.  Some grew up to 100 feet tall and often had diameters exceeding 10 feet.