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There is a large tree (about 30') in the parking area for my office building that is dropping its nuts, most of them falling on the pavement and getting smashed by cars driving through.
The fruits are encased in very sharp spiny capsules; each capsule starts out light green, then turns brown as it splits open to expose its payload.
The tree is a chestnut or chinkapin of genus Castanea. The two wild species that are found here are the American Chestnut (C. dentata) and the Allegheny Chinkapin (C. pumila). The leaves and twigs are just a little fuzzy; although the leaves are paler underneath, I wouldn't call them "white-woolly," as Petrides specifies. And the leaves are long, about 6 or 7 inches. The fruits are multiple. All of these characters suggest dentata.
But large American Chestnuts are rare, because most have been stunted by chestnut blight. Most Chestnuts that you find are sprouted from stumps.
Of course, there is evidence of that on this tree.
There is even a section (see the top photo) that looks like an unknown, shrubbier species has sprouted from an earlier stump of our Castanea.
Since this tree is in an office park/residential neighborhood, it's quite likely a non-native species like the European C. sativa, which is more blight-resistant, or perhaps a hybrid.
posted:
6:43:46 PM
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