Chestnut

:This article is about the chestnut plant in the genus Castanea. The name horse-chestnut is commonly applied to several species in the unrelated genus Aesculus (family Sapindaceae). Also unrelated is the Chestnut oak (Quercus montana). Chestnut is also used as an adjective to describe a certain colour of coat in horses that resembles the colour of the chestnut nut.

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C. alnifolia - Bush Chinkapin*

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C. crenata - Japanese Chestnut

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C. dentata - American Chestnut

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C. henryi - Henry's Chestnut

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C. mollissima - Chinese Chestnut

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C. ozarkensis - Ozark Chinkapin

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C. pumila - Alleghany Chinkapin

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C. sativa - Sweet Chestnut

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C. seguinii - Seguin's Chestnut

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* treated as a synonym of C. pumila by many authors

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Chestnuts (Castanea), including the chinkapins, are a genus of eight or nine species of trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the nuts produced by these trees. Most are large trees to 20-40 m tall, but some species (the chinkapins) are smaller, often shrubby. All are deciduous.

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The leaves are simple, ovate or lanceolate, 10-30 cm long and 4-10 cm broad, with sharply pointed, widely-spaced teeth, with shallow rounded sinuses between. The flowers are catkins, produced in mid summer. The fruit is a spiny cupule 5-11 cm diameter, containing 2-7 nuts.

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The American Chestnut, formerly one of the dominant trees of the eastern United States, has been almost wiped out by a fungal disease, chestnut blight, Cryphonectria parasitica. The American chinkapins are also very susceptible to chestnut blight. The European and west Asian Sweet Chestnut is susceptible, but less so than the American, and the east Asian species are resistant. These resistant species, particularly Japanese Chestnut and Chinese Chestnut but also Seguin's Chestnut and Henry's Chestnut, have been used in breeding programs in the US to create hybrids with the American chestnut that are also disease resistant.

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Horse: :This article discusses ungulate mammals. For other meanings of horse, see Horse (disambiguation)....

Tree: :This article is about the biological organisms known as trees. For other meanings of the word see tree (disambiguation)....

Shrub: :"Shrub" is also a derogatory nickname for United States President George W Bush....

Chestnut related Images and Photos (experimental)

Horse Chestnut	Sweet Chestnut	Chestnut Tree in Bloom	Horse Chestnut Spring
Chestnut Trees in Blossom	Blossoming Chestnut Branches c.1890	Chestnut Trees and Farm Jas De Bouffan	Horse Chestnut in Summer UK
Maxwell Chestnut Wood Frame Fits 24 x 32 Print	Flat Top Chestnut Frame Fits 16 x 20 Print	Tonner Nu Mood Chestnut Fringe Cut Wig Doll Accessory	A Chestnut Hunter and a Spaniel by Farm Buildings