/r/americanchestnut
Subreddit dedicated to the restoration of the American Chestnut tree. Please post any media about American Chestnut restoration around the US or photos of suspected sightings, or crafts/structures made out of the wood.
The American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) once was the king of the Eastern United States forests--consisting of an estimated 1 in 4 trees. In 1904, a blight was accidentally introduced in the US and quickly decimated the 4 billion American Chestnut trees in its native range making it functionally extinct. The American Chestnut blight pandemic is the worst ecological disaster in North American history. With your help, we can bring them back!
American Chestnuts provided a good source of food for people and animals and rot-resistant, long-grained lumber. The tree has been gone for so long, only the most elderly can even recall it. Hundreds of people around the country are working to return this king to the forest. Currently, the means to do so are by cross-breeding the remaining specimens with blight resistant Asian varieties or transgenic methods.
Think you found a tree? Submit a sample to TACF for verification!
Support the restoration of the American Chestnut:
/r/americanchestnut
1,479 Subscribers
Where do I go to find the most recent news about the restoration of the American Chestnut?
I just recently moved to the northeast US, and I've been interested in American Chestnuts ever since I first heard of them about 10 years ago. I sent a message to the local branch of the ACF asking how I can get involved, but didn't receive a reply.
My inquiry is where I should go, and what should I do, in order to be kept updated on the most recent news about the restoration of the American Chestnut.
Thanks in advance!
14:23 UTC
Portugal
18:25 UTC
Science_visuals on Instagram doing great work sharing info on the American Chestnut.
Thought you would all like to see this: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBeO_kERTcS/?igsh=YTM4aDJnY244bzkx
16:28 UTC
ID help
Can anyone confirm this is an American Chestnut? I’m in central ma for reference
02:06 UTC
What do I have here?
A few different single leafs, the 7 leaf portion came from the tree I think the nuts came from.
20:37 UTC
Are wormy chestnuts safe to eat after baking?
I foraged a bag of chestnuts, and now these are in the bag.
16:22 UTC
Are these American chestnuts?
21:48 UTC
Chinese or American Chestnut? (ID help)
Thanks in advance
21:43 UTC
Temperatures for Dormancy
Greetings! Located in Texas, got two trees (2 ft tall) and the deer and grasshoppers did a number on the leaves.
We are getting night temps in the low 60’s, day temps up to 95.
When do the trees start to go dormant?
One tree has lots of new small leaves and buds, the other has lots of buds but no new leaves yet.
15:01 UTC
Ethics of reintroduction
Howdy! I live on the ancient dune coast of FL on a scrubby sandhill. I ordered some hybrid blight resistant chestnuts & a friend of mine told me that planting them would be unethical due to being south of the original native range. I wanted to ask this community about their thoughts. The sandhill has great drainage & plenty of pines & oaks & it is in a residential area where we each have 1-3 acres. I’m having some trouble grasping the ethical dilemma given where we are at in the world. I don’t feel like it would be “invasive” just a few hours south of its native range. And it’s also not the same specie. What are your thoughts. The plants arrive tomorrow and if I shouldn’t plant them, should I keep them potted or just kill them :( or ship them north?
14:43 UTC