This Is Neat!

The American Chestnut tree used to make up almost 25% of all forests in the eastern part of the United States. They were magnificent shade trees with a wide canopy and they produced what were reported to be very tasty nuts. They were also a source of very rot-resistant wood. Unfortunately, in the early 1900's a fungus was introduced into the US which began killing the trees. It was a swift demise, the blight spread very rapidly and the American chestnut passed almost completely into history. I happen to own an antique dresser that is made from chestnut. It's a very pretty wood. In recent years researchers have been trying to come up with varieties of chestnut that are resistant to the fungus. They have had a fair amount of success with a Chinese variant.

But now a stand of native American Chestnuts has been discovered growing wild in Georgia. Near where President Roosevelt used to vacation.

The find has stirred excitement among those working to restore the American chestnut, and raised hopes that scientists might be able to use the pollen to breed hardier chestnut trees.

"There's something about this place that has allowed them to endure the blight," said Nathan Klaus, a biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources who spotted the trees. "It's either that these trees are able to resist the blight, which is unlikely, or Pine Mountain has something unique that is giving these trees resistance."

The scientists plan on harvesting as many of the seeds as they can and will use them in their studies to try to develop a blight-resistant strain.

The chestnut foundation may use pollen from the tree in a breeding program aimed at restoring the population with blight-resistant trees.

"When the flowers are right, we're going to rush down and pollinate the flowers, collect the seeds a few weeks later and collect the nuts," Klaus said. "If we ever find a genetic solution to the chestnut blight, genes from that tree will find their way into those trees."

The chestnut foundation has been working for about 15 years to develop a blight-resistant variety. The goal is to infuse the American chestnut with the blight-resistant genes of the Chinese chestnut.

I think that is some good news.

Other Links to this Post

1. Blue Crab Boulevard » Blog Archive » Must Be A Big Day For Follow-Up Stories — Monday, 19 June , 2006 @ 11:56 am