Chestnut
American Chestnut. Castanea Dentata.
Produces the beast quality chestnuts; flavorful and delicious. Strong, stately, upright, spreading tree grows 50-70 feet tall and 40-60 feet wide. Dark green foliage turns yellow in the fall. Medium growth rate; 30-80 year life span. Prefers well drained to moist soil. Exceptionally hardy. Zones 3-8. Once covered large areas of the eastern U.S. Nearly exterminated by chestnut blight, endothia parasitica, which was introduced in the late 1800s from Asia. Must be planted in isolated locations.
Chinese Chestnut
Castanea Mollissima. Highly resistant to chestnut blight. Bristly, apple sized burrs contain 3-7 medium to large, meaty, crisp nuts. Delicious roasted. Slightly larger but not quite as sweet as American chestnuts. Low Branched, round 40 ft tree. Dense, glossy green foliage. turns from yellow to bronze in fall; white catkins in spring. Moderately productive. Bears in 3-5 years; life span of 30-80. Self pollinating, but better yields if cross pollinated. Prefers acid, well drained, loamy soil. Ripens mid to late September. Zones 5-9. Widely planted in the East to replace the native American Chestnut. Introduced in 1900.
Chinquapin
Castanea Pumila. Small, sweet chestnuts on ornamental bush that reaches 6-12 feet. Long, green leaves turn bright yellow in the fall; spring catkins are also very ornamental. Plant two for fruit production. Ripens August-September. Adapted from Maine to Georgia. Zones 5-9.
European Seedlings – Italian Chestnut
The seeds selected for growing these seedlings are from trees that produce large, high quality nuts. The seedlings grown from these nuts are quite likely to be hybrids with other species. While there is no certainty of the genetic makeup of these trees, the appearance of the nut, leaf and tree form indicated a predominance of the European species type.
Hybrid Dunstan – American x Chinese hybrid
Castanea dentate x mollisima. Easy to pee. Nuts are far superior in size and taste to Chine and European chestnuts. High in protein and carbohydrates. Low in oil and fat. Grafted tree is fast growing and highly resistant to blight. Produces in 3-4 years. Requires pollination; any Chines chestnut will pollinate any of the Dunstan Hybrids. Zones 4-9. Bred in the United states by Dr. Dunstan.
Hybrid Colossal
Castanea crenata x C. Mollisima x C. Sativa; hybrid of Japanese, Chinese, and European chestnuts. Large to very large, sweet nuts. Easy to peel. Good quality. Beautiful, large tree. Produces of up 400 pounds of nuts annually. Two trees are required for pollination. May be blight susceptible, so not suitable for east of the Rocky Mountains. Ripens in October. 400 chill hours. Hardy to -20 degrees F. Bred by C.E. Parsons. Of the Felix Gillet Nursery of Nevada City, California. Introduced in 1925
Hybrid Layeroka
Earliest ripening Chinese x European hybrid. Combines the blight resistance of the Chinese parent with he timber quality, nut size and productivity of the European. Large to very large, sweet brown nut falls early and free of the burr when ripe. Precocious, vigorous, pyramidal tree; erect timber type shape. Early, very productive bearer. Pollen sterile, Blight resistant. One of the few varieties commercially planted in Canada. Ripens in early October. Substantially hardier than other varieties imported from south central China. Zone 5.
