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Castanea dentata
American Chestnut
Florida native
Known from dry or mesic hammocks in Florida only in Escambia and Okaloosa Counties. The range included much of the eastern United States and into Ontario.
Due to the blight that wiped out nearly all of the American chestnuts in the 1900's, trees now only grow to 5-10m (16 - 33 ft.) tall instead of the normal height of 30m (100 ft.). Leaves are petioled, narrowly ovate to oblanceolate, and sharply serrate, with the lateral nerves projecting beyond the margin into bristles. The fruit is a spine covered cupule containing 3 nuts.
Castanea dentata is a member of the Fagaceae - Beech family.
Other species of the Castanea genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Castanea pumila - CHINQUAPIN
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Oct 31, 2018
