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Castanea dentata

Common name:	American Sweet Chestnut	Family:	Fagaceae
Author:	(Marshall.)Borkh.	Botanical references:	11, 43, 200
Synonyms:	Castanea americana ((Michx.)Raf.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - Maine and Ontario to Michigan, Georgia and Arkansas.
Habitat:	Dry, gravelly or rocky, mostly acid soils[43]. This species is virtually extinct in America due to chestnut blight[11].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Fagus-Castanea dentata[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	American Chestnut [B,P,DEN1],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	castanea = chestnut colored; casta = spotless; dentata = with teeth;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Fagales. Beech family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us; Us(Amerindian)

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 30m by 15m . It is hardy to zone 4. It is in flower in July, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Canopy.

Cultivar 'Kelly': Woodland, Canopy.

Edible Uses

Chocolate; Coffee; Oil; Seed.

Seed - raw or cooked[2, 62, 63, 102, 117]. Rather on the small side, but these are the sweetest seeds of any species in this genus[183]. The seed contains about 7% fat, 11% protein[159]. It can be dried, ground into powder and then be added to cereals when making bread, cakes etc[213].
A delicious oil can be extracted from the seed by crushing the nuts, boiling them in water and then skimming off the oil as it comes to the surface[213]. It can be used as a topping for various puddings[213].
The roasted nut can be used as a coffee substitute and a chocolate substitute can also be made from it[183] (no further details).

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent; Expectorant.

A warm water infusion of the leaves has been used to calm the respiratory nerves and promote expectoration[213, 257]. The infusion has also been used in the treatment of whooping cough but modern opinion is that the leaves are no more than a mild astringent[213].

Other Uses

Dye; Tannin; Wood.

The bark is a good source of tannin[46, 61, 171, 223]. The dried leaves contain 9% tannin[213]. The wood and the seed husks also contain tannin[223]. The husks contain 10 - 13% tannin[223].
A brown dye is obtained from the bark[257].
Wood - soft, not strong, light, very durable, liable to warp. It weighs 28lb per cubic foot. Easy to split, it is used for making cheap furniture, fence posts, in construction etc[61, 82, 117, 171, 229, 235].

Cultivation details

Prefers a good well-drained slightly acid loam but succeeds in dry soils and in hot sunny sites[1, 11, 188, 200]. Once established, it is very drought tolerant[11, 200]. Very tolerant of highly acid, infertile dry sands[200]. Averse to calcareous soils but succeeds on harder limestones[11, 200].
Although it is very winter-hardy, this species only really thrives in areas with hot summers[200]. A tree at Kew in 1985 was 15 metres tall and thriving[11].
At one time widely cultivated in N. America for its edible seed, it is now virtually extinct in the wild due to chestnut blight[11]. There are some named varieties[183]. Trees are possibly becoming resistant, some suckering stands in America are producing fruit[11]. Suckers often reach 4 - 6 metres tall before succumbing to blight, but they rarely manage to produce fruit[229].
An excellent soil-enriching understorey in pine forests[200].
Flowers are produced on wood of the current year's growth[229]. Plants are fairly self-sterile[200]. They hybridize freely with other members of this genus[200].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].

Propagation

Seed - where possible sow the seed as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame or in a seed bed outdoors[78]. The seed must be protected from mice and squirrels. The seed has a short viability and must not be allowed to become dry. It can be stored in a cool place, such as the salad compartment of a fridge, for a few months if it is kept moist, but check regularly for signs of germination. The seed should germinate in late winter or early spring. If sown in an outdoor seedbed, the plants can be left in situ for 1 - 2 years before planting them out in their permanent positions. If grown in pots, the plants can be put out into their permanent positions in the summer or autumn, making sure to give them some protection from the cold in their first winter[K].

Cultivars

'Watertown #3': A small nut with a very good flavour and good kernel filling[183]. A hardy and productive tree, selected from the wild in New York[183].
'Kelly': The small to medium-size nuts have a very good flavour[183]. A vigorous, upright healthy tree, this cultivar has exhibited the most resistance to blight in America, and is a very consistent bearer in Ontario[183].
'Essex': A small nut with a very good flavour and good kernel filling[183]. A hardy and productive tree, this is a selection from the wild that shows good resistance to blight in America[183].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Fagaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[63] Howes. F. N. Nuts. Faber 1948
Rather old but still a masterpiece. Has sections on tropical and temperate plants with edible nuts plus a section on nut plants in Britain. Very readable.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X
Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader.

[102] Kavasch. B. Native Harvests. Vintage Books 1979 ISBN 0-394-72811-4
Another guide to the wild foods of America.

[117] Rosengarten. jnr. F. The Book of Edible Nuts. Walker & Co. 1984 ISBN 0802707699
A very readable and comprehensive guide. Well illustrated.

[159] McPherson. A. and S. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press 1977 ISBN 0-253-28925-4
A nice pocket guide to this region of America.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[223] Rottsieper. E.H.W. Vegetable Tannins The Forestal Land, Timber and Railways Co. Ltd. 1946
A fairly detailed treatise on the major sources of vegetable tannins.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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