The chestnut tree, Castanea, dates back to 2000 BC in Asia and Greece under the name Castanea sativa, meaning cultivated chestnut. Also known as sweet chestnuts, Castanea sativa were then introduced to Europe from Greece. Chestnuts would…. As people started immigrating to other countries they found that other regions had Chestnut trees as well that varied in height, spread, leaf attributes, and taste.
In 1904, Japanese chestnut trees planted in Long Island, New York, carried a fungus, blight, that devastated the American chestnut population. An estimated 3-4 billion American Chestnuts would succumb to chestnut blight resulting in death. While you can find Chestnut trees that survived blight throughout the country, the fungus drastically reduced the American Chestnut population. As a result, most chestnuts sold for consumption in the United States in the 21st Century were imported from China, Korea, or Italy.
In the 1930’s efforts were made to restore the chestnut population in the United States using European chestnut trees. Attempts were made to establish a variety of European chestnut that was blight resistant as it was believed European chestnut trees were blight resistant. It was later determined that European chestnut trees were not blight resistant so efforts were focused on Chinese chestnut trees. In the 1950’s Dr. Robert T. Dunstan would combinte American grafts taken from a tree in Ohio that was sill living and cross pollinate them with Chinese chestnut trees. Dr. Dunstan would continue to cross pollinating the trees until he arrived with a tree that was blight resistant. Since that time Dunstan chestnut trees are one of the most popular varieties planted in the United States because of their blight resistance.
There are now 4 main species of Chestnuts: American, Chinese, European, and Japanese. When comparing the trees the American and European trees tend to grow straighter, while the Chinese and Japanese varieties tend to spread out more with longer branches.
The American chestnut or Castanea dentata is primarily found on the East Coast of the United States from Maine to Florida. The seeds of American chestnuts are the smallest of the 4 main species of chestnut; however the American chestnut trees are the tallest. American chestnut trees generally reach 60-100 feet, although they can reach as high as 120 feet tall. The tallest American chestnut tree is actually found in Belgium, reaching 120 feet tall and 11 feet in girth. The tallest American chestnut tree in the United States is found in Lovell, Maine and is nearly 115 feet tall.
Chinese chestnut are known to be blight resistant, which is a reason they became more popular after the Chestnut blight in the early 1900s. The Chinese chestnut is known as Castanea mollisima which means soft/weak chestnut. Castanea mollisima are known to be the shortest chestnut species with an average height of 40-45 feet, though they can grow as tall as 60 feet. Another common attribute of the Chinese chestnut is they are known to branch out as wide as 40-60 feet.
As mentioned earlier, Castanea sativa was introduced to Europe back in 2000 B.C. They remain the predominant species of chestnut found in Europe today. Castanea sativa produce the largest seeds and in turn very large trees Castanea sativa generally reach 60-80 feet in height but can grow as tall as 100 feet.
Castanea crenata is the Japanese species of chestnut and is similar in size to the Chinese chestnut tree. Japanese chestnut trees normally range from 40-60 feet in height, with an average height of 50 feet and are also known to have a wide spread simliar to the Chinese chestnut.