Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Castanea dentata
FAMILY
Fagaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
By almost any metric, the American chestnut was a perfect tree. Massive, fast-growing, and rot-resistant, it was easy to mill into cabin logs, furniture, fence posts, and railroad ties. Read more at SierraClub.org.
Learn more from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina website.
For more information on the American Chestnut and the chestnut blight, visit the American Chestnut Foundation
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Formerly one of the most important, largest, and most abundant forest trees in the Mountains of our area, C. dentata was severely affected by chestnut blight, Cryphonectria parasitica, introduced at New York City in 1904 on nursery stock of C. mollissima. Blight spread steadily southward, reaching our area in the 1920's and 1930's. Read more in Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Castanea dentata
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Castanea dentata
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-02-001:
Castanea dentata FAMILY Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Castanea dentata
COMMON NAME:
American Chestnut
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_263
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_cade12_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm090125_002
January Greenville County SC
Paris Mountain State Park
SC State Champion Tree. Bark smooth when young, becoming furrowed with age, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_dentata_pine_mtn_1
May
)
JK Marlow jkm0407s_17
July Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_126
July Greene County TN
Staminate flowers in upright catkins 6-8" long, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_128
July Greene County TN
Its long sharply-toothed leaves should make this tree distinctive, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
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JK Marlow jkm070703_129
July Greene County TN
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_134
July Greene County TN
)
JK Marlow jkm180821_3932
August Jackson County NC
Whiteside Mountain
Twigs gray to shiny chestnut brown, glabrous, with numerous white lenticels, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_castanea_dentata_2
August
Leaves mostly 5-9" long, light green, glabrous, long-pointed, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
COMPARE
leaves of Chestnut and Sawtooth Oak
)
Ron Lance rwl_castanea_dentata
August Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm080924_139
September Haywood County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Fruits split along 4 sutures, enclosing 3 nuts, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
JK Marlow jkm080924_141
September Haywood County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Two or more nuts are enclosed in a spiny bur 2-3" across, maturing Sept-Oct, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm201014_7681
October Spartanburg County SC
In cultivation
Crossed and backcrossed to retain Chinese chestnut's blight-resistent genes.
)
JK Marlow s071016_d
October Oconee County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Castanea dentata
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Castanea dentata
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Castanea dentata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-02-001:
Castanea dentata
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Castanea dentata
285
Tree
Perennial
Monoecious
Habitat: Mesic and xeric forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer
Creamy-white
4-6 sepals
Petals absent
12(-18) stamens in staminate flowers
Unisexual
Flowers in catkins
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brown
Nut
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p281
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p104
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p141
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p165
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p074
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p056
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p151
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p233
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p059
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p45
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p231
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p090
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