What a blight-stricken tree I have found in this place that is circling all 'round the sun....
I went walking around downtown today (this would be Savannah, aka the downtown actually worthy of the label). Trees of note: Sugarberry, Swamp Chestnut Oak, big Carolina Laurel-cherries, American Elm, Florida Maple, Acacia (?), and, then, last but most definately not least:
American Chestnut.
That's right. American Chestnut. Castanea fucking dentata.
"No!" you're probably saying to yourself. "Such a thing is unheard of!"
But no, I have indeed found a tree. With burrs. Yes, you read that right. Burrs.
By now you're probably so shocked that you might have forgotten some important facts about the American Chestnut, such as how it was once the dominant tree of the Appalachian forest, growing to massive sizes and comprising nearly one in every four trees within its range, or how it was almost completely obliterated by Cryphonectria parasitica, the chestnut blight fungus, introduced on imported Chinese chestnut trees. You may have forgotten the devastating impact of the tree's loss on the Appalacian ecosystem, or how it only survives to the present as a small understory shrub. You may have forgotten how the only surviving mature stands, planted in the west by pioneers, have recently fallen under attack from the fungus due to careless visitors, so that now the only remaining trees are those that sprout from the stumps of blight-killed individuals, or the many efforts, through genetic engineering, backcrossing with Chinese Chestnuts, or a search for resistant trees, to reestablish the species, some of which are only now beginning to show signs of success. Anyway, now you no doubt remember.
Anyway, I believe I have found one of these trees. It's only about fifteen feet tall, and it definately has the blight, but there aren't supposed to be chestnuts anywhere near Savannah, or on the coastal plain at all, much less one surviving long enough to bear fruit.
OK, so it's probably a Chinese Chestnut that happened to not have blight resistance, whatever. I have to go out tomorrow to gather leaves and burrs to make a positive ID, which I couldn't do today, as the only remaining leaves and full burrs were in the top of the tree, which I wasn't about to climb, because the owner of the nearest house, a walking tour, and a group of SVA students were all staring at me following my yelling "HOLY SHIT!!!" and conducting a vicotry dance on the sidewalk. Until specimen collecting proves me wrong, though, I have at least 20 hours to bask in my glory before this ends up like the Kousa Dogwood that I thought was a new species, or the champion American Hornbeam that wasn't, or the champion Eastern White Pine that I still can't relocate.
American Chestnut.
That's right. American Chestnut. Castanea fucking dentata.
"No!" you're probably saying to yourself. "Such a thing is unheard of!"
But no, I have indeed found a tree. With burrs. Yes, you read that right. Burrs.
By now you're probably so shocked that you might have forgotten some important facts about the American Chestnut, such as how it was once the dominant tree of the Appalachian forest, growing to massive sizes and comprising nearly one in every four trees within its range, or how it was almost completely obliterated by Cryphonectria parasitica, the chestnut blight fungus, introduced on imported Chinese chestnut trees. You may have forgotten the devastating impact of the tree's loss on the Appalacian ecosystem, or how it only survives to the present as a small understory shrub. You may have forgotten how the only surviving mature stands, planted in the west by pioneers, have recently fallen under attack from the fungus due to careless visitors, so that now the only remaining trees are those that sprout from the stumps of blight-killed individuals, or the many efforts, through genetic engineering, backcrossing with Chinese Chestnuts, or a search for resistant trees, to reestablish the species, some of which are only now beginning to show signs of success. Anyway, now you no doubt remember.
Anyway, I believe I have found one of these trees. It's only about fifteen feet tall, and it definately has the blight, but there aren't supposed to be chestnuts anywhere near Savannah, or on the coastal plain at all, much less one surviving long enough to bear fruit.
OK, so it's probably a Chinese Chestnut that happened to not have blight resistance, whatever. I have to go out tomorrow to gather leaves and burrs to make a positive ID, which I couldn't do today, as the only remaining leaves and full burrs were in the top of the tree, which I wasn't about to climb, because the owner of the nearest house, a walking tour, and a group of SVA students were all staring at me following my yelling "HOLY SHIT!!!" and conducting a vicotry dance on the sidewalk. Until specimen collecting proves me wrong, though, I have at least 20 hours to bask in my glory before this ends up like the Kousa Dogwood that I thought was a new species, or the champion American Hornbeam that wasn't, or the champion Eastern White Pine that I still can't relocate.