Trees of Alabama and the Southeast Home Page

Leaves are simple, alternate, deciduous, elliptical to obovate, with bristle-tipped teeth and a hairy underside.  Twigs are hairy with white-brown hairy buds. Bark is gray-brown and ridged. Fruit is a brown, edible nut enclosed in a spiny bur. Chinese chestnut is from Asia and planted in the eastern U.S.  Some mistake this tree for American chestnut but the leaves of Chinese chestnut are more leathery and hairy below.

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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.