When the Europeans arrived in North America every fourth tree in the Eastern deciduous forest was an American Chestnut Castanea dentata. They were massive: up to 100 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 5 to 7 feet. In what has been called the world’s greatest botanical disaster, an Asian blight fungus, brought to New York in 1904, wiped out this majestic species– billions of trees- in only 40 years. . .
Now there is hope for the return of the Chestnut.
The Virginia-based American Chestnut Cooperators Foundation has succeeded in introducing a blight-resistant strain of the tree into state forests there. Blight-free trees have been growing strong for almost 20 years now. You can help ACCF by planting the seedlings and nuts.
View the Website at American Chestnut Cooperators’ Foundation