25 Foot Tall American Chestnut

I seem to have accidentally stumbled onto a theme of chestnut trees here; but how could I resist letting readers know that I think that we found a hard boiled egg at the chicken farm?

Wayne and I hiked in the town forest today looking for Eastern Mountain Laurel in bloom and stumbled upon another "stand" of American Chestnut. I put the word stand in quotes because the saplings will in all probability succumb to Chestnut Blight.  A few trees however can survive to be between fifteen and twenty feet tall and produce nuts before they die.  For most, "The blight kills the above ground portion of the trees, but the root system can survive and form new sprouts" -LEAF The American Chestnut: Extinct or Returning These are the chestnut rings that I wrote about in, "Doesn't it Look Like a Banana."

Wayne and I had previously found a small American Chestnut tree in the town forest and so have kept a lookout for a possible mother tree on subsequent visits there and in the adjacent Roaring Brook Wildlife Refuge.  That's as much information as I can give you on the location of these trees as it is not allowed to share the exact locations of rare and endangered species.

The tree that we found today, Wayne estimates to be between 20 and 25 feet tall. I plan on revisiting the tree in late summer to see if any nuts have developed and if so, I will visit again around the first frost as that is when the nuts drop to the ground.

It's important to note that Chestnut Blight is easily transmitted. If you do locate an American chestnut tree, please do not touch it if you have been in contact with other chestnut trees. I was informed by forester Corey Keeffe that he cleans his tools between trees with Lysol spray to help prevent disease transmission. I sprayed my shoes when I got home today. Even with the greatest care, it is likely that this tree will soon die as blight resistant trees are rare.

Reference - I am 5'9"

Tree base

Just above the base 

American Chestnut in center of photograph