Editing Chestnut (section)

==Taxonomy==

=== Species ===
Chestnuts belong to the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Fagaceae]], which also includes [[oak]]s and [[beech]]es. The four main species groups are commonly known as American,<ref name=laren58>[http://www.chestnutsaustralia.com.au/content/view/24/58/ Industry information] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080808092004/http://www.chestnutsaustralia.com.au/content/view/24/58/ |date=2008-08-08 }} by David McLaren. From ''The Chestnut Growers Information Book'', Chestnut Australia Inc.</ref> European, Chinese, and Japanese chestnuts.

The taxonomy of the American chestnuts is not completely resolved, particularly between the chinkapins ([[Castanea ozarkensis]] and [[Castanea pumila]]), which are sometimes considered to be the same species. Genetics have indicated the California native "golden chinkapin" ([[Chrysolepis chrysophylla]]) is worthy of inclusion in a different genus along with a species from Coastal China. There is also another chestnut, ''[[Castanea alabamensis]]'', which may be its own species.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1600/036364421X16370109698524|title=Genome-Wide Sequence-Based Genotyping Supports a Nonhybrid Origin of ''Castanea alabamensis'' |year=2021 |last1=Perkins |first1=M. Taylor |last2=Zhebentyayeva |first2=Tetyana |last3=Sisco |first3=Paul H. |last4=Craddock |first4=J. Hill |journal=Systematic Botany |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=973–984 |s2cid=196658281 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable collapsible"
|-
! Subgenus
! Image
! Scientific name
! Common Name
! Distribution
|-
! rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|  American chestnuts
|[[File:AmericanChestnutPollen.JPG|175px]]
| ''[[Castanea dentata]]'' 
|American chestnut
|Eastern North America
|-
|[[File:Castanea pumila leaves and flowers.jpg|175px]]
| ''[[Castanea pumila]]'' 
|American or Allegheny chinkapin, also known as "dwarf chestnut"
| Southern and eastern United States<ref name=grocer>[http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/html/books/book_63.cfm ''The Grocer's Encyclopedia – Encyclopedia of Foods and Beverages'']. By Artemas Ward. New York. 1911.</ref><ref name="fao">[http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/AC645E/ac645e01.htm ''Postharvest Physiology and Pathology of Chestnuts'']. In ''Postharvest Handling and Storage of Chestnuts''. By Fabio Mencarelli. Food and Agriculture Organisation United Nations. November 2001.</ref>
|-
|[[File:Castanea ozarkensis.jpg|frameless|181x181px]]
|''[[Castanea ozarkensis]]''
|Ozark chinkapin
|Southeastern and Midwestern United States
|-
! rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|  Asian chestnuts
|[[File:Castanea mollissima, Hangzhou Botanical Garden 2018.06.03 15-38-49.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Castanea mollissima]]''
|Chinese chestnut
| China, Vietnam, India, and North Korea
|-
|[[File:Castanea henryi ( Katherine Wagner-Reiss) 02.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Castanea henryi]]''
|Chinese chinkapin, also called Henry's chestnut
| China
|-
|[[File:Castanea seguinii 02.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Castanea seguinii]]''
|Seguin's chestnut
|China
|-
|[[File:Castanea crenata 1.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Castanea crenata]]''
|Japanese chestnut, Korean chestnut
|Korean Peninsula and Japan
|-
! rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|  European chestnut
|[[File:Castanea sativa D.jpg|175px]]
| ''[[Castanea sativa]]''
|sweet chestnut; also called "Spanish chestnut" in the US and the UK
| Parts of Southern Europe, the Caucasus, Western Asia and Asia Minor
|}

=== Etymology ===
[[File:Japanese Chestnut01.jpg|thumb|Female chestnut flowers]]
[[File:Japanese Chestnut02.jpg|thumb|Male chestnut flowers]]
The name "chestnut" is derived from an earlier English term "chesten nut", which descends from the Old French word ''chastain'' (Modern French, ''châtaigne'').<ref>{{OEtymD|chestnut}}</ref> The French word in turn derives from [[Latin]] ''Castanea'' (also the scientific name of the tree), which traces to the [[Ancient Greek]] word κάστανον (sweet chestnut).<ref name=rhs>''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. By A. Huxley ed. 1992. Macmillan {{ISBN|0-333-47494-5}}.</ref> A possible source of the Greek word is the ancient town of [[Casthanaea]] in [[Ancient Magnesia|Magnesia]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TGIaAAAAYAAJ "Essai monographique sur le châtaignier", Édouard Lamy, 1860 p.4].</ref> Its location is at the modern village of [[Keramidi]].<ref>{{Cite Barrington|55}}</ref><ref>{{Cite DARE|29372}}</ref> The town probably took its name, though, from the trees growing around it.<ref name=2020site/> In the Mediterranean climate zone, chestnut trees are rarer in Greece because the chalky soil is not conducive to the tree's growth. Kastania is located on one of the relatively few sedimentary or siliceous outcrops. They grow so abundantly there that their presence would have determined the place's name.<ref name="Chestnuts">{{cite journal|last1=Fauve-Chamoux|first1=Antoinette|title=Chestnuts|journal=Cambridge World History of Food|date=2000|volume=1|pages=359–364|url=http://www.omnilogos.com/2015/06/chestnuts.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620184030/http://www.omnilogos.com/2015/06/chestnuts.html|archive-date=2015-06-20|doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521402149.036|isbn=9781139058636}}</ref> Still others take the name as coming from the Greek name of ''Sardis glans'' (Sardis acorn) – [[Sardis]] being the capital of [[Lydia]], Asia Minor, from where the fruit had spread.<ref name=hagen>[https://books.google.com/books?id=g8YSB2K9d1oC&dq=%22Sardis+glans%22&pg=PA51 The Meaning of Trees]. By Fred Hageneder, Chronicle Books – Nature. 2005.</ref>

The name is cited twice in the [[King James Version]] of the Bible. In one instance, Jacob puts peeled twigs in the water troughs to promote healthy offspring of his livestock.<ref name=veg>[http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch211.html Vegetarians in Paradise].</ref> Although it may indicate another tree, it indicates the fruit was a local staple food in the early 17th century.<ref name=2020site>[http://www.2020site.org/trees/chestnut.html Chestnut Tree].</ref>

These [[synonym (taxonomy)|synonym]]s are or have been in use: ''Fagus Castanea'' (used by Linnaeus in first edition of ''Species Plantarum'', 1753),<ref name=linnaeus>[https://www.jstor.org/pss/2476888 ''On the Name of the American Chestnut'']. By Geo. B. Sudworth. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Vol. 19, No. 5 (May 5, 1892), pp. 152–154 (article consists of 3 pages). Published by: Torrey Botanical Society.</ref> Sardian nut, Jupiter's nut, husked nut, and Spanish chestnut (U.S.).<ref name=botanical>[http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/cheswe59.html ''A Modern Herbal'']. By Mrs. M. Grieve.</ref>