Any of y'all know where any native American Chestnut trees are growing in the wild?

There is a very small sparsely scattered area that supposedly has been documented in the Tensaw delta, and another in GSP. Do not even think about trying to get at the one's GSP, and good luck finding them in the Delta. They are nearly extinct and not much luck has been made at propagating the one's that are known.

Wow, didn't know they grew that far South when they were thriving . Wonder if someone got ahold of some before the blight got them and transplanted those? They occasionally sprout from stumps and roots ,but die before they put on any size. You know how big those are?

There is supposed to be one somewhere in the Talladega Ranger District of TNF. Rumors are that its a mature tree and blight resistant. USFS does not disclose it's whereabouts and allegedly studies are ongoing studying the tree to understand its resistance.

I know the old growth one's got really large and the nuts were highly prized for their meat and oil, but I have never seen one except in pictures. I have excavated the burn husks from prehistoric sites. Those are larger than most hickory nuts.

I’ve talked with a few folks heavily involved with this project. A lot of money being invested

https://acf.org/

Yeah, they were huge . These mountains up here used to have some dead ones on the ground and a few standing snags. Some were well over 8' . I have got in them while hunting in the rain. Those have all rotted away now. They were called the Giant Sequoias of the East., they dominated the eastern forests . It's estimated that 25% of the hardwoods in Appalachian forest were Chestnuts. Sure would have like to see some mature ones. The demise of the Chestnuts should have been a wakeup call not to fool with the Chinese .

Can you tell between the Burrs or leaves if it's an American or a hybrid?

There is one or was 4 years ago in Russell county on the old Dudley farm as well.

I’ve also heard of the one in TNF. When I hunted in Estill Fork the land owner told me the mountains looked like they were covered in snow when they were blooming. There is one in Morgan City but I suspect it’s a hybrid. I got a bunch of nuts from it but haven’t been able to get any to come up. Sad those trees are gone. Another gift from the dog eating savages that gave us stink bugs and covid.

I found quite a few when I worked for the forest service. Most were stump sprouts, that would get 2-3” dbh and would die and sprout back. There is one I know of in your neck of the woods that was still alive 2 years ago. It was 8 or 9” and prolly 40’ tall. Never saw it with fruit though.

I wouldn’t know of one if i were to even see it or if I’ve even seen one around, but looking at old timer pics right now and they look to of gotten massive.

There are a few old stumps back in the bottoms of mud creek that are easily 8-12’ across. I’m guessing they may have been those type of tree?

Here's a link to a wealth of info.

https://acf.org/

Only Quality Import from China is the Ring-Neck Pheasant!!

There are some in Michigan that survived. Years ago I thought I found one near Chestnut Ridge North of Fayetteville TN. Sent the leaves and branch to the American Chestnut Foundation .It was a Chinese hybrid.

Might be .

Got one on my place that used to do this. Last time it got up to 4” or so and didn’t come back. 🙄

I watched a documentary about them a couple months ago. It was very interesting. I didn't realize the nuts were a cash crop for Appalachians back in the day.

Could someone knowledgeable take a cutting off one of those shoots and graft it into an existing similar tree? I don’t even know what I’m talking about mostly, but I hear of it being done on fruit trees.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.