1/11/2024 0 Comments Chestnut seeds for sale![]() Once infected, the tree will develop a reddish-brown or yellow-orange rash on the affected bark. This is often in locations of injury such as can be created by bird or insect activity. The fungus is spread aerially by spores that infect the trees where they are able to germinate and penetrate bark. Stumps still remain to send up shoots from the root system, but the shoots rarely survive long enough to produce nuts. Within 50 years of the first discovery, blight had killed virtually all American chestnuts. It was first recorded in the New York Zoological Garden in 1904. Chestnut BlightĬhestnut blight ( Cryphonectria parasitica) is a pathogenic fungus native to Asian chestnuts. The hybrids planted at LERGREC are of the B3F3 generation, which are roughly 94% genetically American. This has occurred over many years, beginning in the 1980s, and several generations. This is achieved through what is known as backcross breeding, in which Americans are bred with Chinese, and the most blight resistant offspring with American characteristics are then bred back with American. The goal was and is to create a chestnut tree that is as genetically close to the American species as possible, while also inheriting the resistance to chestnut blight from the Chinese species. The American-Chinese Hybrid species were bred by The American Chestnut Foundation. The tree seeds were acquired from the Pennsylvania chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation located at the main campus of The Pennsylvania State University. The original trees were established in May of 2013, with two hybrids relocated in 2014 and one American replaced in 2016. The Lake Erie Regional Grape Research and Extension Center has 15 chestnut trees, 5 each of the American, Chinese and American-Chinese Hybrid species, planted in one row. ![]() A few stands of trees still remain throughout the Appalachian regions and stumps of infected trees continue to send up new shoots, but newly sprouted trees rarely survive.Ĭurrent restoration efforts are focused on creating hybrids with the blight resistance of Chinese chestnuts and the desirable characteristics of the American chestnut. With the introduction of Chestnut blight ( Cryphonectria parasitica) and the subsequent rapid decimation of the native chestnut population, the American chestnut has become designated as functionally extinct. Mature trees could produce as many as 6000 nuts and could be as tall as 100 feet with strong, straight grained, rot resistant wood. The trees were renowned for their sweet and abundant crop of nut, as well as for the quality of their wood. 1 out of every 4 trees in the eastern United States was an American chestnut, prior to the 20th century. It dominated the eastern United States, with a population of roughly 4 billion trees. The American chestnut ( Castanea dentata) was once a vital piece of forest ecosystems, providing food to billions of animals. ![]()
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