I always wondered why the drawings of Daniel Boone and early settlers showed giant trees. They seemed to by in an area that was nothing like the Appalachians that I understood. I always chalked it up to greedy lumber companies. But this is amazing history and a warning of the damage one could create by importing foreign plants and seeds. We are even carful with taking cut wood across state lines these days. We have many foreign species in the great lakes. Pine beetles everywhere now. For as tough as this planet is, it's eco system is sometimes very fickle.
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The great tragedy of the American Chestnut tree.
- Thread starter Dave...
- Start date
jakethebaptist
New Member
The good news is that there has recently been some breakthroughs in developing American Chestnut trees that are resistant to the disease.
Restore the American Chestnut
A revolutionary approach to saving chestnut trees from extinction
On a side note, a couple of weeks ago I had roasted chestnuts for the first time. Now I get the appeal and the Christmas song!
Restore the American Chestnut
A revolutionary approach to saving chestnut trees from extinction
On a side note, a couple of weeks ago I had roasted chestnuts for the first time. Now I get the appeal and the Christmas song!
When I was in Germany I always looked forward to the Christmas marts and the roasted chestnuts.
I've heard about this. I think I seen a video about a field somewhere where they are growing them and trying to break through and find one tree that can withstand the fungus. Something like that. Eventually they'll have a seed that can take on that fungus that killed the original ones. The Appalachians would have been a sight to see back in the day.
They say that the American chestnut was amazing for railroad ties, constructing fences, houses. Very durable. Some guy got the idea to import some Asian Chestnut tree seeds for some reason. Maybe they grew faster, I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure it's in the video. With those Asian seeds came the fungus that the Asian Chestnut was immune to, but the American Chestnut was wiped out by it.
Thank you. Seems like a lot of our "good ideas" were not so good.
Back in the 80s I planted 7 Dunstan Chestnuts on the back of our property. Hybrid vigor, excellent soil - most bore nuts within 4 years. I selected from the ones with the most American traits and planted those seed, and again selected nuts from those offspring, and now have three very American looking trees that I had actually forgotten about until the recent pond excavation I had done brought them to light. Nuts are American sized, but have weevils.
When i was 20, we cut down a Black Oak Tree that was 7.5 feet in diameter
My other grandparents had a Black Oak Tree that was just over 4 feet in diameter.
Crazy. They were the largest of that species I have ever seen
Crazy. They were the largest of that species I have ever seen
IIRC, some Chinese chestnut trees were imported early in the 20th century for an arboretum or park in New York. Some records state that within the hardwood forests east of the Mississippi, one in every four trees was an American chestnut. Whether true or not, the loss of the species is probably the greatest ecological disaster (so far - Amazonia rain forest might be close) in the Americas.
