Castanea mollissima

Family:FAGACEAE
Species:Castanea mollissima Blume
Common Name:Chinese Chestnut
Habitat:**
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Tree
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:**
Plant Notes:Chinese Chestnut is an introduced deciduous tree in the Beech family (Fagaceae). It is native to China and Korea, and can be found throughout Alabama. Chinese Chestnut occurs around old home sites, on fence rows, in pastures, and in abandoned orchards and wildlife plantings. Chinese Chestnut is a multi-trunked small tree or small rounded tree branching from low on the trunk. Trees can reach a height and spread of 40 to 60 feet. Bark is greyish and furrowed. Young twigs have spreading hairs. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, oblong to elliptic in outline, coarsely serrate, and densely pubescent on the lower surface. The leaves are dark green and shiny above and whitish below. The deciduous leaves turn yellow then brown in the autumn. Male flowers are produced in dense, drooping, whitish catkins. Female flowers are produced at the base of some of the catkins. The odor of the flowers is offensive to some people. The fruit is an edible brown nut. A spiny involucre encloses 2-3 nuts. Chinese Chestnut is fairly resistant to Chestnut Blight caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica. It was hybridized with our American Chestnut (Castanea dentata (Marshall) Borkhausen) in hopes of conveying disease resistance to that species. Chinese Chestnut is often cultivated for its edible nuts and planted as a food source for wildlife.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Not Native
References:**

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyFAGACEAE - Beech family
Genus Castanea
Species Castanea mollissima Blume - Chinese Chestnut

Citation

Citation Castanea mollissima Blume, Mus. Bot. 1(18): 286. 1850.
Basionym: **
Type: **

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Castanea bungeana Castanea bungeana Blume, Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugduno-Batavi 1: 284. 1850. CHINA
Castanea duclouxii Castanea duclouxii Dode, Bull. Soc. Dendrol. France 1908: 150. 1908.  
Castanea sative var. mollissima Castanea sativa Miller, var. mollissima (Blume) Pampanini, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., ser. 2. 17: 250. 1910.Castanea mollissima Blume 1850. 
Castanea vulgaris var. yunnanensis Castanea vulgaris Lamarck, var. yunnanensis Franchet, J. Bot. (Morot) 13: 196. 1899. CHINA: Yunnan
Castanopsis yunnanensis Castanopsis yunnanensis (Franchet) H. Léveillé, Cat. Pl. Yun-Nan 66. 1916.Castanea vulgaris Lamarck, var. yunnanensis Franchet 1899. 

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Cleburne, Coffee, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Etowah, Franklin, Hale, Jackson, Lawrence, Lee, Macon, Marengo, Mobile, Morgan, Pike, St. Clair, Sumter

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AUA, JSU, TROY, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: -

Barcode / Accession No. County Coll. Date Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
AUA_ACC_20838 Mobile 24 May 1970 Blankenchip, B.P.
155
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
AUA_ACC_35361 St. Clair 10 Jan 1980 Owsley, C.Michael
S.N.
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
AUA_ACC_12425 Lee 22 Apr 1963 Mcconnell, C.A.
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
JSU123043 Etowah 9 Jun 1994 Hodge, Lesley M.
2269
JSU
Castanea mollissima Blume
TROY000005834 Coffee 07 Oct 2000 Martin, Brian H.
999
TROY
Castanea mollissima Blume
AUA_ACC_35547 Lee 14 Jul 1970 Rogers, Norman
083
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
UWAL0007650 Sumter 29 Apr 1993 Scott Stephen
s.n.
UWAL
Castanea mollissima Blume
AUA_ACC_38274 Macon 12 Jul 1971 Cook, Harry D.
050
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
UWAL0038608 Lawrence 01 Sep 2018 England, J. Kevin
9422
UWAL
Castanea mollissima Blume
JSU123045 Jackson 22 Jun 1999 Brodeur, Kristin R.
2017
JSU
Castanea mollissima Blume
AUA_ACC_17633 Lee 6 Aug 1969 Floyd, Jr., John A.
165
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
TROY000005839 Barbour 05 May 1997 Williams, Robert
2
TROY
Castanea mollissima Blume
AUA_ACC_40027 Conecuh 2 Oct 1984 Diamond, Alvin R.
190
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
ALNHS00004671 Hale 19 May 2016 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#2798
ALNHS
Castanea mollissima Blume
AUA000038188 Morgan 22 Aug 2015 England, J. Kevin
5631
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
UWAL0019969 Morgan 22 Aug 2015 England, J. Kevin
5631
UWAL
Castanea mollissima Blume
TROY000005856 Coffee 10 Apr 1991 Turner, Tammy
3
TROY
Castanea mollissima Blume
TROY000005835 Conecuh 04 Sep 2004 Diamond, Alvin R.
14669
TROY
Castanea mollissima Blume
JSU123044 Etowah 18 Sep 1972 Jackson, June W.
s.n.
JSU
Castanea mollissima Blume
AUA_ACC_20264 Lee 18 May 1970 Wood, Kerry
148
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
TROY000045219 Marengo 28 Jul 2012 England, J. Kevin
3859
TROY
Castanea mollissima Blume
TROY000005836 Crenshaw 20 May 1991 Nichols, Grant
11
TROY
Castanea mollissima Blume
AUA000041168 Cleburne 28 May 2015 Spaulding, Daniel D.
14279
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
TROY000005837 Pike 14 May 1995 Doty, Steve
4
TROY
Castanea mollissima Blume
JSU123046 Jackson 21 Jun 1969 Bible, Rebecca
s.n.
JSU
Castanea mollissima Blume
TROY000020181 Autauga 30 Aug 2002 Walker, Emily
1
TROY
Castanea mollissima Blume
UWAL0013563 Marengo 28 Jul 2012 England, J. Kevin
3859
UWAL
Castanea mollissima Blume
AUA_ACC_26220 Bullock May 1973 Pickett, F.
S.N.
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
AUA_ACC_42491 Macon 22 Jul 1972 Moody, Gary
097
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
USAM000006821 Baldwin 04 Nov 1972 Coolins, Sue
9
USAM
Castanea mollissima Blume
UWAL0032716 Franklin 27 May 2016 England, J. Kevin
6426
UWAL
Castanea mollissima Blume
AUA_ACC_21491 Lee 21 May 1970 Williams, S.A.
169E
AUA
Castanea Mollissima Blume
UWAL0034212 Cleburne 28 May 2015 Spaulding, Daniel D.
14279
UWAL
Castanea mollissima Blume
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