Pulling chestnuts out of the urban forest

     Have you sighted any American chestnut trees in the Norwalk area or other

 

parts of Connecticut?

 

    The Norwalk Tree Alliance and the Connecticut chapter of the American

 

Chestnut Foundation are looking for examples of the tree that once blanketed the

 

Eastern U.S. more profusely than other species and provided prized timber,  

 

building materials and food for people and wildlife like white-tail dear, wild turkeys

 

and bears.

 

    A fungus from Asia that infects the bark--first identified in samples from

 

the Bronx Zoo in 1904--virtually decimated the chestnut forests by the 1950s,

 

destroying what foresters estimate at between 3 million and 4 million trees.

 

    Today a European chestnut imported from Italy or Spain is commonly sold by

 

street vendors in urban America and in grocery stores across the country at

 

Christmas time.

 

    In the East only sprouts or young trees have survived, reaching up to eight feet

 

or more in height. They sometimes even flower and yield nuts. But eventually

 

they succumb to the blight and die. Because of the alkaline content of the soil,

 

there are no chestnut stands in the West.

 

    Meanwhile the American Chestnut Foundation and the Connecticut

 

Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven are committed to resuscitating

 

the American chestnut. They are actively developing blight-resistant trees by

 

back-crossing the U.S. species with disease-resistant Chinese and Japanese

 

trees.

 

    After nearly 50 years of botanical experimentation, the hybrids are close to

 

being acceptably advanced to regenerate the species and ultimately become

 

a vital American resource again. It is anticipated that some healthy

 

seedlings could be available and ready to be planted as early as this fall.

 

   At the same time in Norwalk the team of Dan Landau and Jeanne McAndrew

 

are documenting the community's Notable Trees as part of the mission the

 

Norwalk Tree Alliance to preserve the community's urban forest, an estimated

 

120,000 trees, the majority of them on private property.

 

    Could it be there are survivors somewhere in some obscure location in the

 

Norwalk area or other parts of the county?  A mature tree would be an

 

invaluable find for scientific community.

 

    Renowned for its stateliness and its place in U.S. literature, the American

 

chestnut—or Castanea dentata to give the tree its scientific name—reaches

 

80 feet in height with a three-foot-thick trunk.

 

    They are distinguishable by the leaves, up to 11 inches long and four inches

 

wide.  With its hairless twigs and widely spaced saw-teeth on the edges of the

 

leaves—hence the Latin name dentate or toothed—the American chestnut is

 

distinct from the reasonably common Chinese chestnut which has hairy twig tips

 

and thick, shiny, leathery leaves that feel fuzzy on the lower surface.       

 

     Flowering white in late June and early July, the American chestnut is a

 

prolific bearer of nuts, usually in clusters of three, in a spiny green burr. The nuts

 

develop through the late summer and the green burrs eventually turn brown and

 

then open to release the pods about the time of the first frost.

 

    The nuts are richly textured reddish-brown, sweet and delectable raw or

 

maybe even roasted on an open fire, recalling the opening line from Mel Torme's

 

"The Christmas Song."

 

     Should you sight a tree you think might be a flowering American chestnut

 

survivor, contact the Norwalk Tree Alliance at (203) 847-8182 or online at

 

www.norwaktreealliance.org.

 

    Note: The American chestnut is separate and unrelated to horse chestnuts or

 

buckeyes, usually planted as street trees. The horse chestnut nuts are

 

poisonous. The tree is identifiable by its palmate, five-part leaves growing 

 

opposite each other on twigs, compared to the American chestnut's simple

 

leaves alternate on the twig. Horse chestnuts produce upright clusters of

 

pea-like flowers. The wood is spongy and without commercial application.

 

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