Chestnut Blight - Chestnut Tree Blight Disease

Hosts
American chestnut (Castanea dentata), whose native range is shown at left, is highly susceptible to the disease. European chestnut (C. sativa) is also quite susceptible. Chinese chestnut (C. mollissima) is resistant; a small canker can occur. Some oak species (Quercus spp.) get minor bark infections that can produce inoculum.

If you could custom design the ideal tree species, you couldn't come up with a better one than American chestnut. It was a huge, majestic tree, with a very straight stem. The wood was nearly ideal. As George Hepting (Î”) has written, "Not only was baby's crib likely made of chestnut, but chances were, so was the old man's coffin." One of its good qualities was high durability. The heartwood could be used in situations where decay was a hazard. The tree was common. It made up about 50% of most eastern hardwood forests. It grew fast, and would regenerate itself by root sprouts vigorously. The nuts were edible, not only by wildlife but also by humans. It was an important food source for all. "The farmer's hogs were fattened on chestnuts, and, to no small degree, his children were also" (Î”). Chestnut was also prized as a landscape tree.

Copyright 2012 Jim Worrall