Chestnut photos--Spring 2004
(all photos taken by Joe Schibig unless otherwise
indicated)
Sun-drenched spring foliage
(Photo below taken on April 28, 2004)
Releasing an American chestnut in Sumner
County, TN
(Photos taken on May 9, 2004)
In the photo (above left), a sour wood tree has been
girdled and other trees have been cut to release a 3.5 inch dbh American
chestnut (above right) which thus far is blight free. This is one of the
few chestnuts I have found growing on a mesic ravine site It must
have been just a little switch of a tree until selective logging occurred here
about 13 years ago. It grew rapidly for a while, but surrounding trees
recently have been closing the canopy around the chestnut. I expect it to
begin flowering and fruiting in a couple of years as the sun-drenched leaves
will now produce plenty of carbohydrates.
To provide some protection against the blight, I have been spraying the trunk of
this tree with an experimental fungicide (Chestnut X) at three month
intervals. A common chestnut companion, the wild blueberry (Vaccinium spp.),
was found at this site and is pictured below.
Chestnuts at Mammoth Cave National Park (photos on May 12, 2004)
Mark Vance stands next to the largest known American chestnut in Mammoth Cave National Park (above photo); it is eight inches in dbh and approximately 45 feet tall. This blight-free tree is growing on an upper north-facing slope in the "Big Woods", a stand of old growth forest within the Park. Mark inventoried over 1000 native chestnut specimens in this area of the park last summer. He found that most of the chestnut trees in the "Big Woods" were growing on relatively mesic sites--on north to east facing slopes and in ravines; the soils in this part of the park are capped with sandstone. Generally, the portion of the park north of the Green River has soils derived from sandstone while south of the river most of the soils are derived from Mississippian limestones. In this region, preliminary work indicates that chestnuts are found more on the sandstone soils than the limestone soils.
The photos below are of another American chestnut in the "Big Woods", also 8 inches in dbh, but this one is dying from the blight; note the orange stroma (spore-producing bodies) which shed countless spores which may infect other chestnuts in the area.
The photo below and to the left is of a chunk of Pennsylvanian sandstone. The soils derived from sandstone tend to be well- drained, droughty, nutrient-poor, and acidic. The photo to the right is of a "wild man" who has been in the "Big Woods" much too long.
Chestnuts in Warren County, Kentucky
(photos on May 12, 2004)
The photo (above left) shows Steve (left) and Tim (right) Hartman standing beside a cluster of American chestnut saplings that are blight-free but infested with gall wasps. In Tennessee, I have seen gall wasp infestations on American chestnuts in Marshall, Lincoln, Jackson, and Smith Counties. This is the only occurrence of gall wasps on an American chestnut that I know of in Kentucky. This pest weakens chestnut trees and coupled with blight or some other severe stress may lead to death of the tree. Steve and Tim showed me five other American chestnuts released from logging about 13 years ago; they are growing on sandstone soils on hilly land in Warren County, Kentucky. Although limestone soils occurred at lower elevations, chestnuts were not observed on those soils.
A blight-free American chestnut in Christian County, Kentucky
(photos on May 23, 2004)
William (property owner on left) and Boyd (active chestnut enthusiast in western Kentucky) stand next to a tree which is 9 inches in diameter (dbh) and 50 feet tall. It was growing in the shade of a large southern red on a gently sloping ridge in the mostly flat land of Christian Co., Ky. To my knowledge, this is the only known American chestnut in this county. Early 1900 timber records indicated very few chestnuts in this part of the state. On May 30, The owner had the big red oak removed to provide more sunshine to the chestnut which should trigger flowering (photos below by Boyd). Hopefully by next summer, Boyd and others will be pollinating this chestnut.
The tallest chestnut in Kentucky
(photos on May 23, 2004)
Jim (property owner on left) and Boyd stand next to the tallest known American chestnut in Kentucky--it is one of the tallest chestnuts in all of the eastern U. S. and is probably the tallest known chestnut south of the Mason-Dixon line. This tree is 90 feet tall and has a diameter (dbh) of 20 inches, and I estimate it to be at least 50 years old. The tree is located in the Western Coal Field region of Ky., south of Owensboro in Webster County, and is growing on a northeast-facing slope in sandstone-derived soil at an elevation of 500 feet. Within 50 feet of the chestnut we observed cherry bark oak, black oak, pignut hickory, dogwood, and sassafras trees. The tree was damaged by the twisting effects of a wind storm in 1995 but has healed (see photo below). It has a touch of blight which could be treated by inoculation with hypovirulent Cryphonectria or possibly with a fungicide. Its crown is full of flowers, so Jim and Boyd plan to locate a tree climber to pollinate the tree in June. The photo below and on the right was taken by Boyd; it shows Jim and Joe (the author) standing next to the awesome chestnut.
Hill Craddock's blighted seed
Dr. Hill Craddock, a chestnut scientist at the University of Tennessee/Chattanooga, took this photo of a blight-infested chestnut seedling and has this to say about two such seedlings:
"I know the literature says that seed transmission is possible, but this is the first evidence of it that I have seen in my own personal experience. These two seedlings died a few days apart, in the greenhouse last week. I took the pictures yesterday. The seeds were germinated in a commercial potting mix in 3-gal treepots in a closed greenhouse (following cold-stratification in peat in a zip-lock bag)."
Chestnuts survive a controlled burn at Mammoth Cave National
Park
(Photos on May 18, 2004)
In the above left. photo, you can see small chestnut sprouts emerging from the root crown of a fire-scorched chestnut. Park officials have been using controlled burning as a tool for maintaining the mast-producing oaks and hickories which deer, turnkey, and other wild animals depend upon for food. In many protected forested areas in the eastern U. S., maples have been rapidly replacing oaks and hickories; the chestnuts, oaks, and hickories are trees that sprout freely following forest fires. Before the blight, chestnuts were on the increase in many areas of the eastern U. S. due in part to fairly frequent forest fires. In the right photo, Mark Vance, fellow chestnut researcher, stands at the entrance of a cave very close to a small population of chestnuts in one of the many sinkhole areas of the park. Most of Mammoth Cave National Park is capped with sandstone which is comparatively resistant to erosion; layers of limestone which are more rapidly eroded by water lie beneath the sandstone. Thus far, the chestnuts we have found in this park were growing on acidic, sandy (often rocky) sandstone soils, not the limestone soils.
Westernmost flowering American chestnut in Kentucky
(Photos on June 6, 2004)
From right to left, Mark, Jack, and Boyd stand next to a 70-foot tall American chestnut in Marshall Co., Ky. It has the distinction of being the westernmost flowering American chestnut in Kentucky that we know about. Despite having a mild case of the blight, its sunlit canopy boasts many flowers this year. Boyd will coordinate the pollination work as well as the harvesting of nuts from this big tree.
Mother trees on the eastern Highland Rim of
Kentucky
(Photos on June 4, 2004)
Arthur Tucker, chestnut enthusiast on the left, and Scott Shadoan, local forester, stand next to a floriferous American chestnut (9.5 inches in diameter at breast height and 35 feet tall). Though blighted, it appears quite healthy and will likely produce many nuts this year after members of the Ky. Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation pollinate it. This tree is located in Clinton County a few miles north of Albany, Ky. The tree pictured on the right is an American chestnut in Wayne Co., Ky. It is 14 inches in diameter and 35 feet tall; although heavily blighted, 200 pollination bags were recently placed on this tree. The pollen will come from Fred Hebard at TACF's Meadowview research farms. We expect it to produce about 200 nuts this fall. Arthur Tucker told me that, in the 1960s, he came across the stump of a dead American chesttut in Pulaski County, Ky., which was 12 feet in diameter; he also recollects seeing a big dead chestnut tree still standing in Wayne Co., Ky. that was 8 feet in diameter. Chestnuts grew big on the deep soils of the eastern Highland Rim.
A team of chestnut pollinators inspect the
flowers of chestnut trees on the steep bluffs overlooking Kentucky
Lake
(Photos on June 6, 2004)
In the above left photo, Boyd maintains his balance on a very steep slope; below him is a 45-foot tall American chestnut that has started to bloom early this year--the male flowers were already starting to shed pollen. The right photo shows Mark Vance sitting with Boyd and Jack standing next to another flowering chestnut on a steep slope above Kentucky Lake at Land Between the Lakes.