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This Chestnut Tree is Unrivaled for its Flavorful Nuts Plus Disease Resistance You can enjoy a fall harvest of chestnuts just in time for roasting over the fire during the holidays when you plant the Chinese Chestnut Tree Castanea mollissima. Sturdy beautiful and prolific are only a few outstanding qualities of this tree. All chestnut trees are not created equal which means they all can’t lay claim to these merits. But if you want a long-lived disease-resistant chestnut tree that is recommended by numerous universities as “thechestnut tree to grow put the Chinese Chestnut Tree at the top of your list! The Distinctive Taste and Texture of Chestnuts Even though you’ll enjoy numerous benefits from your Chinese Chestnut Tree a plentiful harvest of succulent chestnuts is the jewel in its crown. A fall harvest is worth the season-long wait to enjoy your homegrown chestnuts ‘C they have a sweetness combined with a delicate crunch. If you’ve never grown chestnuts you’ll find their intriguing and unrecognizable appearance on the tree is vastly different than the familiar dark-brown nuts. Several chestnuts are hidden inside a large spiny case called a bur which doesn’t make them look very appetizing! But when the nuts ripen and fall from the trees the burs split open which makes harvesting the delicious nuts inside a snap. Flurry of Flowers in Summer Before the nuts appear on Chinese Chestnut Tree you’ll be treated to a showy summer display of white fluffy flowers. Each tree bears male and female flowers that are formed on 6-inch-long panicles called catkins ‘C the male flowers are at the top of the catkins and the female flowers are at the base. Although each tree is somewhat self-pollinating horticulturists recommend planting a second tree to facilitate cross-pollination. This results in a more abundant crop of chestnuts! Stronger Disease Resistance As its name implies Chinese Chestnut is native to Northern China also Korea. But even though it’s not an indigenous plant here in the U.S. the Chinese Chestnut Tree is favored over the American Chestnut Tree for a very important distinction ‘C its disease resistance. An insidious fungal disease called chestnut blight nearly eradicated our native American chestnut trees in the mid-1900s. But the Chinese Chestnut Tree shows resistance to chestnut blight disease which makes it the healthier choice for your landscape. In fact of all types of chestnut trees the University of California describes the Chinese Chestnut Tree as “the most resistant to chestnut blight.Shade Tree with Colorful Fall Foliage One of the extra benefits you’ll enjoy from planting a Chinese Chestnut Tree is the shade that it casts. In fact the Missouri Botanical Garden recommends it as “a beautiful specimen shade tree.The 3- to 6-inch-long leaves form a dense canopy on these deciduous trees which typically grow 30 to 40 feet tall although they can potentially reach 60 feet. Chinese Chestnut’s shiny green summer foliage transitions to golden-yellow leaves in autumn to bring a glorious end-of-the-season show to your landscape. Tip: Because the nuts are encased in a spiny bur plant Chinese Chestnut Tree as a lawn tree away from hardscapes to keep the burs off walkways driveways and patios. Resilient in Cold Climates Chinese Chestnut is a perennial in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 4 through 8 where it’s a winter-tough tree able to handle temperatures to minus 20 degrees F that’s also heat-tolerant. If you’re one of our warm-climate friends who may not routinely build fires in the winter you may want to have one just for roasting your homegrown Chinese Chestnuts! No Hassle Harvesting You’ll have easy work of harvesting your Chinese Chestnuts ‘C no ladders are required! These nuts fall naturally from the trees when their outer casings split open to reveal the ripened chestnuts inside. You’ll want to gather chestnuts every day as soon as they begin to fall because they are susceptible to sun scald and they can become too wet from heavy dews or rainfall. Harvesting tip: Spread a tarp on the ground underneath your Chinese Chestnut Tree to collect the nuts and keep them from contacting the wet ground. Gloves Will Come in Handy Because Chinese Chestnuts are encased in a spiny capsule wear gardening gloves when you gather them from the ground. The burs are sharp so you don’t want pin pricks on your fingers. You’ll also want to keep curious children away from the chestnut burs. How to Cure Chestnuts The key to enjoying the sweetest flavor from chestnuts is to allow them a proper curing period. Newly harvested chestnuts have nutmeats that taste more starchy than sweet but this starch converts to sugar during the curing process. They’ll naturally cure after a few days when stored at room temperature but the best flavor will result from cold-storage curing. All you have to do