How Tall Does an American Chestnut Tree Get?

Characteristics

• The American chestnut grows to 100 feet or more and a spread of roughly 60 feet, though some have a spread nearly as wide as their height. The tree grows in a rounded shape with dense foliage composed of oblong sharply toothed leaves that grow in an alternate pattern along the stems. The thick leathery yellow-green leaves are narrow and angled more sharply into their stems, or petioles, than other types of chestnuts and turn yellow-brown in the fall. American chestnut flowers resemble hairy fronds and appear in early summer. The bark of a young tree is a shiny olive-brown and is marked by small lenticels, or small protruding breaks.The bark of mature specimens develops deep cracks and shiny flat ridges.

Habitat

• American chestnuts thrived in sunny spots in sloping well-drained slightly acidic soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. Today's hybrids that have been developed with increased resistance to blight need the same growing conditions. Two varieties produced by crossing American and Chinese chestnuts are "Dunstan," which is hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 4, and "Colossal," hardy to USDA zone 5. While they don't grow as tall as the American chestnut -- "Dunstan" reaches about 50 feet and "Colossal" about 70 feet -- they have a significantly greater resistance to blight and produce suitable crops of tasty nuts.

Chestnuts

• The fruit of the American chestnut develops inside bright green prickly outer husks called burrs. Although not as large as the nuts from Asian and European species, American chestnuts are believed by some to be tastier. The outer shell of the nuts is thin and shiny reddish-brown. It splits open readily during roasting, which is the most common way to enjoy chestnuts, particularly during the winter holidays. The burrs of all members of the chestnut tree family open into four sections revealing up to three nuts.

Chestnut Blight

• In the early 1900s, chestnut blight (Endothia parasitica) was accidentally brought to the United States on Chinese chestnuts. The fungal disease, for which there is no cure, subsequently spread rapidly throughout New England and into the Southeast. The disease appears as large lesions on the trunks of American chestnut trees, and while sprouts may emerge from the trunks of dead trees or from germinated nuts, the saplings never grow large enough to produce flowers or fruit before being affected. While planting a true American chestnut won't be possible until horticulturists are able to develop a blight-free cultivar, hybrid crosses between American and Chinese chestnuts provide reliable substitutes as nut-producing shade trees. When growing blight-resistant hybrids such as "Dunstan" and "Colossal," it's important to plant at least one of each variety for proper pollination.