Trees of Alabama and the Southeast Home Page

Leaves are simple, alternate, and deciduous with coarsely toothed margins and teeth curving upward toward the leaf apex. Twigs are smooth, zigzag, and shiny chestnut brown with chestnut brown buds. Bark is gray-brown and smooth on young trees. Fruit is a brown, edible nut enclosed in a spiny bur and was a major animal food source before the blight.  American chestnut occurs in the understory as a sprout to small tree on a variety of well-drained sites in the eastern U.S.  No large trees are usually found due to the Chestnut blight. Shade tolerant.

 

All text and photographs are intended for educational purposes only and are not for commercial use in any form.  All photographs are copyrighted by the named photographer(s), text copyright by Lisa Samuelson. © 2005, all rights reserved. Photographs by Mike Hogan. American chestnut fruit donated by Chris Horne!