Plant · P-545

Chinese Chestnut

Castanea mollissima

Chinese chestnut is the chestnut species that shrugged off the blight that wiped out its American cousin, and it is the reason chestnuts are still a working nut crop outside Asia. A mature tree can produce 25 to 60 kg of crisp, sweet nuts a year starting five to seven years after planting, but the crop has to be picked up every other day or ground fungi rot it. It also coppices for firewood, supplies hard wood for fence posts, and grows into a good rounded shade tree - though its heavy nut fall makes it a poor choice next to a patio or driveway.