American Chestnut update: maybe next year

[Roger Feeley]

I’ve been watching the efforts of the American Chestnut Foundation for a long time. The link below suggests that the seedlings of the Darling58 tree might be generally available late next year

https://www.esf.edu/chestnut/progress-report/2021.htm

The darling58 is somewhat controversial. There are people like me that would like to plant a couple of trees. On the other side are some powerful environmental groups. They don’t have a problem with releasing the genetically modified American Chestnut. They do have a problem with the slippery slope. The big logging and paper companies are waiting in the wings with GMO trees that they want to plant. And there are others. There’s some sort of something attacking the worlds bananas and scientists are frantically working on a solution there.

[John K Jordan]

Thanks for the update. I’d definitely plant a dozen or two.


I’ve been watching the efforts of the American Chestnut Foundation for a long time. The link below suggests that the seedlings of the Darling58 tree might be generally available late next year

https://www.esf.edu/chestnut/progress-report/2021.htm

The darling58 is somewhat controversial. There are people like me that would like to plant a couple of trees. On the other side are some powerful environmental groups. They don’t have a problem with releasing the genetically modified American Chestnut. They do have a problem with the slippery slope. The big logging and paper companies are waiting in the wings with GMO trees that they want to plant. And there are others. There’s some sort of something attacking the worlds bananas and scientists are frantically working on a solution there.

[Jim Becker]

The folks on a 'Tube channel I watch (County View Acres) have a whole bunch of chestnut trees planted on their property. I think they are in Indiana. I'm not clear on the variety, however.

If I had the land, I'd cheerfully plant some chestnut trees. Could maybe support one on the south property line here, however.

[Roger Feeley]

Jim, there are some surviving American Chestnut trees. Some are well out of the range of the tree and simply didn’t catch the disease. Some were thought to be blight resistant and were investigated. Then there’s the Asian chestnut which isn’t as large but is blight resistant. The American Chestnut Foundation has been crossing and back-crossing the Asian tree with the American tree hoping to wind up with a blight resistant, mostly American, tree.

The folks in NY came late to the party. They simply grabbed a gene from some wheat, spliced into the American Chestnut that’s Darling58. Ok, I’m sure it was a lot harder but you get the idea. With the stroke of their CRISPR pen, they produced a tree that is an American Chestnut tree in all respects but one.

the chestnut blight is kind of sneaky. The tree is fine until its about 15 years old. Then it Devon’s cantors that eventually girdle the tree. The above ground part dies but the root system is fine so the tree sprouts again and the cycle is borne.

[Roger Feeley]

This update is particularly important to me. We are doing some construction that will require removal of a couple of trees. I would very much like to plant a couple of chestnuts. The house is an 1860 farm house and I would like to plant trees that are more period authentic. Some chestnuts and some hickories would be ideal. Right now, I’m not sure that any trees on the property are indigenous.

[Tom M King]

Hickories make a mess. I don't mind them in the woods, but I don't want any in a yard.

[Stan Calow]

How'd things work out with the disease resistant American Elm varieties that were developed? I planted one briefly but it was damaged in a storm, and I lost interest.

[Roger Feeley]

How'd things work out with the disease resistant American Elm varieties that were developed? I planted one briefly but it was damaged in a storm, and I lost interest.
Huh? I didnt know there was a Dutch elm resistant tree. Thanks for the heads up.
I just searched and it appears that there are a number of disease resistant varieties with varying success.

[Bill Dufour]

I read years ago that all banana farms plant are one single variety so any disease can kill all the commercial plants.
Bill D

[Alex Zeller]

I'm right at the northern range for the chestnut. If they do become available I will try to plant a few on my land. I have a small stand of popular I would like to remove.

[Curt Harms]

I read years ago that all banana farms plant are one single variety so any disease can kill all the commercial plants.
Bill D

That's the risk with monoculture. I dimly remember an issue with a widely used genetic variant (I guess that's the right word) in U.S. seed corn. Here's an article about it, the abstract is pretty short. There's a lesson here that goes beyond corn I think.

https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/60663500/Publications/Bruns/2017/Bruns_2017_Corn%20Leaf%20Blight.pdf

[roger wiegand]

I'd love to get one or more of those trees. A single, well-characterized, intentionally made change is far less likely to have unanticipated or untoward consequences that the "traditional" methods of applying radiation and chemical mutagens to induce an unknown number of unknown mutations and then selecting out progeny that have a property that you like with no regulatory requirements to characterize the outcome. Similarly, backcrossing to an Asian tree, unless done for a large number of generations (many decades for trees) leaves you with a plant with significant non-native genetic content that may or may not support the critical native insect populations.

Having worked most of my career on the genetics of resistance in other systems I am concerned about the robustness of any single gene resistance trait. The selection pressure to overcome it will be huge, and Mother Nature usually finds a way. If they had two or more blocks I'd be a lot happier.

Those of us who are old enough grew up eating a different banana (Gros Michel) than the Cavendish bananas that dominate the world today-- we've already (recently--1950's) seen the world's commercial banana production wiped out by fungal disease. Now we'll get to see it again, in all likelihood. It's a shame because there are actually quite a few interesting bananas out there; we could have more diversity in our supply.

[Stan Calow]

As I understand it, all the plantation bananas are actually clones of one tree, as the seeds (little black spots inside the banana) are sterile. They cut off shoots from a tree and plant them to get another tree.

[Malcolm McLeod]

That's the risk with monoculture. …

And if memory serves, it was a similar focus on 1 variety that led to the Irish potato famine - spreading into the Hebrides as well. (Between starvation and emigration, Ireland cut her population by ~half.)

[Alan Lightstone]

What is/was the climate range of American Chestnuts? Which zones could they grow in? I'm likely too far south, but I'd love to plant one some day also.

[Roger Feeley]

What is/was the climate range of American Chestnuts? Which zones could they grow in? I'm likely too far south, but I'd love to plant one some day also.
Alan,
the native range seems to straddle Appalachia. A quick google search suggest that you are out of luck. I’m in the DC area which is right on the edge of the native range.

I still want a tree for the history. I want a hickory too.

[John K Jordan]

… I want a hickory too.

Hickories grow like weeds around here - it would be easy to transplant a small one, best done while dormant.

I’ve transplanted larger trees too with help from the backhoe and tractor or skid steer. I moved a good sized paulownia to the horse pasture some years back. I cut the top out of it so it would spread out instead of grow tall and now it’s a nice shade tree for the horses.

[Tom M King]

Stick a few fresh Hickory nuts right under the surface of the ground, and you will have all you want. I transplanted a White Oak sapling years ago with a 320 excavator I had working here, and it's about 35 feet tall now, a foot in diameter, and looks like it will grow into a nice shade tree between the house and the barn.

For me, Hickory trees are only slightly behind Sweet Gums as being the worst yard trees, as far as making messes go.

[Ronald Blue]

Stick a few fresh Hickory nuts right under the surface of the ground, and you will have all you want. I transplanted a White Oak sapling years ago with a 320 excavator I had working here, and it's about 35 feet tall now, a foot in diameter, and looks like it will grow into a nice shade tree between the house and the barn.

For me, Hickory trees are only slightly behind Sweet Gums as being the worst yard trees, as far as making messes go.

As I recall Box Elder is bad about dropping branches as well. Hickories are messy. I have a tree line of mostly soft maples on my west property line. They are messy enough. They give good shade mid afternoon on though so I will deal with them.

[Michael Weber]

Aren’t Chestnuts messy?

[roger wiegand]

Just joined the American Chestnut Foundation to get onto the priority list for acquiring one of these trees when they are released. These trees, until recently, were a keystone species for supporting wildlife in our forests. I can put up with a little mess to help bring them back.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have planted several dozen Chestnuts from the University's Agri Forestry farm. I think they are an old fashion variety. The farm is very close by. They have a fun Chestnut event each year.
Missouri Chestnut Roast Festival | The Center for Agroforestry (https://centerforagroforestry.org/missouri-chestnut-roast-festival/)