Editing Chestnut (section)

==== Australia and New Zealand ====
The [[Gold rush#Australian gold rushes|Australian gold rush]] of the 1850s and 1860s led to the first recorded plantings of European chestnut trees, brought from Europe by settlers.<ref name=nzcouncil/> Along the years, most chestnut tree plantations were ''C. sativa'' stock, which is still the dominant species. Some of these remain today. Some trees in northern [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] are around 120 years old and up to 60 m tall. Chestnuts grow well in [[South West (Western Australia)|southwest]] [[Western Australia]], which has cold winters and warm to hot summers.<ref name=chestnutbrook/> As of 2008, the country has nearly 350 growers, annually producing around 1,200 metric tons of chestnuts, of which 80% come from northeast [[Victoria (Australia)#Geography and geology|Victoria]]. The produce is mostly sold to the domestic fresh fruit market. Chestnuts are slowly gaining popularity in Australia. A considerable increase in production is expected in the next 10 years, due to the increase in commercial plantings during the last 15<ref name=laren58/> to 25 years.<ref name=chestnutbrook/> By far, the most common species in Australia is the European chestnut, but small numbers of the other species, as well as some hybrids, have been planted.<ref name=laren58/> The Japanese chestnut (''C. crenata'') does well in wet and humid weather and in hot summers (about 30&nbsp;°C); and was introduced to New Zealand in the early 1900s, more so in the upper [[North Island]] region.<ref name=nzcouncil/>