TOPIC: American Chestnuts at Victor Fields
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/9415c921542a509c?hl=en 

ENTS,

Joy & I took a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway here in WNC and stopped
off at Victor Fields to hike a little. It had been nearly 20 years
since I had been there. I surprisingly found a considerable number of
chestnut sprouts & small trees. Most were only a few feet tall but one
was surprisingly large. It was between 20 and 25 feet tall and about 4
inches in diameter. I scouted around looking for more chestnuts of
size, but found none. In the future I plan to take a detailed hike in
the area, probably off-trail to see if I can find some sizeable
chestnut trees. 

The sprouts are quite numerous & I found one tree that was between 20 & 25 feet tall & 4 inches in diameter.

With the number of smaller ones found, it may be
possible. It would be nice to find a new record!  Dad hunted the area
30 years ago and said he found chestnuts there at the time.

James Parton

Congratulations on finding some American Chestnuts!

There are some in a couple of the local parks down here in Maryland:
Downs Memorial Park has a bunch of young ones growing in the sandy
soil near the Chesapeake Bay, though many are stricken with the
Blight. I also found one growing in the highlands of the southern
regions of Patapsco State Park this year - that one is reasonably big
and seems free of blight, but it also seems all alone as far as I can
tell.

Matthew Hannum - October 03, 2007

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Sun, Oct 7 2007 6:05 pm
From: "Edward Frank"

James,

Here are some links to some American Chestnuts Carl or I have visited here
in Western PA:

http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/penna/clearcreeksf/clear_creek_state_forest.htm 

http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/penna/chestnut_anf/chestnut_ridge_anf.htm 

http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/penna/chestnut/american_chestnut.htm 

http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/penna_cook_forest/chestnut06/cook_chestnut.htm 

http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/penna_cook_forest/carl_randy/carl_and_randy.htm 


Ed Frank

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Sun, Oct 7 2007 9:48 pm
From: James Parton


Ed,

Thanks for the links. The American Chestnut is usually the most sought after 
tree that I look for when I go into the woods. To find one of decent size is a treat.

James P.

== 1 of 4 ==
Date: Mon, Oct 8 2007 4:48 am
From: "Ariel"


There are a couple of big ones in Sproul SF. Last time I checked, one was
13.6" dbh and the other 11.6". The interesting thing about the smaller one
was that it was along a stretch of road with other chestnut stump sprouts,
none of which managed to get over 2" dbh before being killed off. The 11.6"
dbh tree was fine and healthy, indicating strongly that it had some native
resistance.

ACF is aware of both of these and have collected seed from them in the past.

Lin Greenaway

== 2 of 4 ==
Date: Mon, Oct 8 2007 6:56 am
From: James Parton


Hey, Will!

Is the TACF aware of that 75 ft chestnut in Cataloochee? The nuts
being sterile &
undeveloped seems to tell me they do not. They often will come out &
collect pollen or
pollinate the trees and return to collect nuts they find.

James.

== 3 of 4 ==
Date: Mon, Oct 8 2007 7:05 am
From: "Will Blozan"


James,

Yes, the Asheville (?) Chapter is aware of it. I doubt it could be
pollinated without some extreme rigging from neighboring trees. Sounds fun
though!

Will

== 4 of 4 ==
Date: Mon, Oct 8 2007 7:53 am
From: "Ariel"


When I measured them, I found the smaller diameter tree was 44 feet tall,
the larger one approximately 55 (that's a by eye measurement). Both are
fairly open grown and are wider than tall and both had viable nuts on them.
There don't seem to be seedlings around them, but Sproul has a lot of deer
and they may be being eaten before they can germinate.

Lin