Editing American chestnut (section)

==Description==
[[File:Castanea dentata.JPG|thumb|Young tree in natural habitat]]
[[File:AmericanChestnutPollen.JPG|thumb|American chestnut male (pollen) [[catkin]]s]]

''Castanea dentata'' is a large, rapidly-growing, [[deciduous]] [[hardwood]] [[Eudicots|eudicot]] tree.<ref name="Dominance of interplanted American">{{cite journal |last1=Jacobs |first1=Douglass F |last2=Severeid |first2=Larry R |title=Dominance of interplanted American chestnut (Castanea dentata) in southwestern Wisconsin, USA |journal=Forest Ecology and Management |date=April 2004 |volume=191 |issue=1–3 |pages=111–120 |doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2003.11.015|bibcode=2004ForEM.191..111J }}</ref> A singular specimen manifest in Maine has attained a height of {{convert|115|ft|m}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tallest American chestnut tree in North America discovered in Lovell, Maine |website=University of Maine |url=https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2015/11/25/tallest-american-chestnut-tree-in-north-america-discovered-in-lovell-maine/ |date=25 November 2015}}</ref> Pre-blight sources give a maximum height of {{convert|100|ft|m}} and a maximum circumference of {{convert|13|ft|m}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Collins |first1=Rachel J. |last2=Copenheaver |first2=Carolyn A. |last3=Kester |first3=Mary E. |last4=Barker |first4=Ethan J. |last5=DeBose |first5=Kyrille Goldbeck |title=American Chestnut: Re-Examining the Historical Attributes of a Lost Tree |journal=Journal of Forestry |date=2017 |doi=10.5849/JOF-2016-014}}</ref> Post-blight sources erroneously report a greater maximum size of the species compared with pre-blight, likely the result of nostalgia, interpretations of pre-blight measurements of [[circumference]] as being measurements of [[diameter]], and the misapprehension that pre-blight observations of maximum size represented observations of average size.<ref>{{cite web |title=In The Maine Woods, A Towering Giant Could Help Save Chestnuts |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/17/459203467/in-the-maine-woods-a-towering-giant-could-help-save-chesnuts |work=[[All Things Considered]] |first=Susan |last=Sharon |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=17 December 2015 |access-date=12 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Research explains larger-than-life perceptions of American chestnut |url=https://www.roanoke.edu/news/new_research_explains_larger-than-life_perceptions_of_american_chestnut |date=17 May 2018 |website=roanoke.edu |access-date=12 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Collins |first1=Rachel J. |last2=Copenheaver |first2=Carolyn A. |last3=Kester |first3=Mary E. |last4=Barker |first4=Ethan J. |last5=DeBose |first5=Kyrille Goldbeck |title=American Chestnut: Re-Examining the Historical Attributes of a Lost Tree |journal=Journal of Forestry |date=2017 |doi=10.5849/JOF-2016-014|doi-access=free }}</ref> It is considerably larger than the closely related Allegheny chinquapin (''[[Castanea pumila]]'').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tacf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Spring_2010_Mast-5.pdf |page=4 |volume=12 |issue=1 |date=Spring 2010 |work=[[The American Chestnut Foundation]] |title=Chinkapins vs. chestnuts}}</ref>

There are several other [[chestnut]] species, such as the European [[sweet chestnut]] (''C. sativa''), [[Castanea mollissima|Chinese chestnut]] (''C. mollissima''), and [[Japanese chestnut]] (''C. crenata''). ''Castanea dentata'' can be distinguished by a few morphological traits, such as [[Petiole (botany)|petiole]] length, nut size and number of nuts per burr, [[Glossary of leaf morphology|leaf shape]], and leaf size, with leaves being {{convert|14|–|20|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|7|–|10|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} broad—slightly shorter and broader than the sweet chestnut.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tacf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Chestnut-Identification-Presentation-2012.pdf |title=Chestnut Species ID: The Basics |work=[[The American Chestnut Foundation]] |access-date=12 July 2024 }}</ref> It has larger and more widely spaced saw-teeth on the edges of its leaves, as indicated by the scientific name ''dentata'', Latin for "toothed".<ref>{{cite book |title=Biotechnology of fruit and nut crops |chapter=10 ''Fagaceae'' |pages=206 to 237 |date=2020 |publisher=[[CAB International|CABI]] |location=Wallingfor, Oxfordshire, UK |isbn=978-1-78064-827-9 |edition=2nd |editor-last1=Litz |editor-first1=Richard E. |editor-last2=Pliego-Alfaro |editor-first2=Fernando |editor-last3=Hormaza |editor-first3=Jose Ignacio |first1=Scott A. |last1=Merkle |first2=Francisco Javier |last2=Viéitez |first3=Elena |last3=Correidoira |first4=John E. |last4=Carlson |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TrvTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA206 }}</ref>

The European sweet chestnut was introduced in the United States by [[Thomas Jefferson]] in 1773. The European sweet chestnut has hairy twig tips in contrast to the hairless twigs of the American chestnut. This species has been the chief source of commercial chestnuts in the United States. Japanese chestnut was inadvertently introduced into the United States by Thomas Hogg in 1876 and planted on the property of S. B. Parsons in [[Flushing, New York]]. The Japanese chestnut has narrow leaves, smaller than either American chestnut or sweet chestnut, with small, sharply-pointed teeth and many hairs on the underside of the leaf and is the most blight-resistant species.<ref>{{cite web |first=Sandra L. |last=Anagnostakis |title=Chestnut Importations into the US |url=https://portal.ct.gov/caes/fact-sheets/plant-pathology/chestnut-importations-into-the-us |website=CT.gov |access-date=12 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

The chestnut is [[Plant reproductive morphology#Variations|monoecious]], and usually [[Sequential hermaphroditism|protandrous]] producing many small, pale green (nearly white) male flowers found tightly occurring along 6 to 8 inch long [[catkin]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rutter |first1=Philip A. |last2=Miller |first2=G. |last3=Payne |first3=Jerry A. |title=Chestnuts (Castanea) |journal=Acta Horticulturae |date=May 1991 |issue=290 |pages=761–790 |doi=10.17660/ActaHortic.1991.290.17}}</ref> The female parts are found near the base of the catkins (near twig) and appear in late spring to early summer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fernando |first1=Danilo D. |last2=Richards |first2=Javonna L. |last3=Kikkert |first3=Julie R. |title=In vitro germination and transient GFP expression of American chestnut (Castanea dentata) pollen |journal=Plant Cell Reports |date=May 2006 |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=450–456 |doi=10.1007/s00299-005-0088-z |pmid=16341724 |bibcode=2006PCelR..25..450F |s2cid=21643641 }}</ref> Like all members of the family [[Fagaceae]], American chestnut is self-incompatible and requires two trees for [[pollination]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Westbrook |first1=Jared W. |last2=Holliday |first2=Jason A. |last3=Newhouse |first3=Andrew E. |last4=Powell |first4=William A. |title=A plan to diversify a transgenic blight-tolerant American chestnut population using citizen science |journal=Plants, People, Planet |pages=84–95 |language=en |doi=10.1002/ppp3.10061 |date=January 2020 |volume=2 |issue=1 |s2cid=199636721 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2020PlPP....2...84W }}</ref> which can be with other members of the ''Castanea'' genus.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fernández-López |first1=Josefa |title=Identification of the genealogy of interspecific hybrids between Castanea sativa, Castanea crenata and Castanea mollissima |journal=Forest Systems |date=1 April 2011 |volume=20 |issue=1 |page=65 |doi=10.5424/fs/2011201-9136|doi-access=free }}</ref> The pollen is considered a mild allergen.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pollenlibrary.com/Local/Specie/Castanea+dentata/in/Erie%20County/OH/ |title=American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) |access-date=June 27, 2022 |archive-date=October 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014234320/https://www.pollenlibrary.com/Local/Specie/Castanea+dentata/in/Erie%20County/OH/ }}</ref>

The American chestnut is a prolific bearer of [[nut (fruit)|nuts]], with [[inflorescence]] and nut production in the wild beginning when a tree is 8 to 10 years old.<ref>Zon, Raphael. Chestnut in southern Maryland. No. 53. pp 31. US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Forestry, 1904.</ref> Burrs often open while still attached to the tree, around the time of the first frost in autumn, with the nuts then falling to the ground.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.concordmonitor.com/Chestnuts-13311536|title=Chestnuts reemerge|access-date=June 22, 2022|archive-date=January 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129150025/https://www.concordmonitor.com/Chestnuts-13311536 |date=November 3, 2017 |work=Concord Monitor |first=Hillary |last=Nelson }}</ref> American chestnut typically have three nuts enclosed in a spiny, green burr, each lined in a tan velvet.<ref name=2000fieldguide>{{cite web |url=https://www.tacf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MegaTIDvue.pdf|title=How to identify American chestnut trees|date=May 2008|website=Appalachian Trail Mega-Transect Chestnut Project|publisher=The American Chestnut Foundation|orig-date=Originally published May 2000 in revised first edition of ''Field Guide for locating, pollinating, and harvesting nuts from flowering American Chestnut Trees (Castanea dentata)''|access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref> In contrast, the Allegheny chinquapin produces one nut per burr.<ref name=2000fieldguide/>