View source for Chestnut

{{For|other uses|Chestnut (disambiguation)}}  
:''"Chinkapin" and "Chinquapin" redirect here; for other uses see [[Chinkapin (disambiguation)]] and [[Chinquapin (disambiguation)]].''
{{Taxobox
| name = Chestnut
| image = Châtaignier 120807 1.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Sweet Chestnut ''Castanea sativa'' 
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fagales]]
| familia = [[Fagaceae]]
| genus = '''''Castanea'''''
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 
''Castanea alnifolia'' - [[Bush Chinkapin]]*<br>
''Castanea crenata'' - [[Japanese Chestnut]]<br>
''Castanea dentata'' - [[American Chestnut]]<br>
''Castanea henryi'' - [[Henry's Chestnut]]<br>
''Castanea mollissima'' - [[Chinese Chestnut]]<br>
''Castanea ozarkensis'' - [[Ozark Chinkapin]]<br>
''Castanea pumila'' - [[Allegheny Chinkapin]]<br>
''Castanea sativa'' - [[Sweet Chestnut]]<br>
''Castanea seguinii'' - [[Seguin's Chestnut]]<br>
<nowiki>*</nowiki> treated as a synonym of ''C. pumila'' by many authors
}}

'''Chestnut''' (''Castanea''),<ref>[[Syllable stress of Botanical Latin|Latin syllable stress]] ''Cas-tá-ne-a''</ref> including '''chinkapin''', is a genus of eight or nine species of [[deciduous]] trees and [[shrub]]s in the [[beech]] family [[Fagaceae]], native to temperate regions of the [[Northern Hemisphere]]. The name also refers to the edible [[nut (fruit)|nuts]] they produce.<ref name=foc>Flora of China: [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=105816 ''Castanea'']</ref><ref name=fna>Flora of North America: [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=105816 ''Castanea'']</ref><ref name=fe>Flora Europaea: [http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Castanea&SPECIES_XREF=&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= ''Castanea'']</ref>

Most of the species are large trees growing to 20-40 m tall, but some species (the chinkapins) are smaller, often shrubby. The [[leaf|leaves]] are simple, [[ovate]] or [[lanceolate]], 10-30 cm long and 4-10 cm broad, with sharply pointed, widely-spaced teeth, with shallow rounded sinuses between. The [[flower]]s are [[catkin]]s, produced in mid summer; they have a heavy, unpleasant odour. The [[fruit]] is a spiny [[cupule]] 5-11 cm diameter, containing one to seven nuts.<ref name=foc/><ref name=fna/><ref name=rushforth>Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.</ref><ref name=bean1>Bean, W. J. (1976). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'' 8th ed., vol. 1. John Murray ISBN 0-7195-1790-7.</ref>

The name ''Castanea'' comes from the old Latin name for the Sweet Chestnut.<ref name=rhs>Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.</ref>

Chestnuts should not be confused with either [[Common Horse-chestnut|Horse-chestnuts]] (family [[Sapindaceae]]; also called "buckeye"), or [[Eleocharis dulcis|water-chestnuts]] (family [[Cyperaceae]]); both are so named for producing superficially similar nuts.

==Ecology==
Chestnut trees thrive on neutral and acidic soils, such as soils derived from [[granite]], [[sandstone]], or [[schist]], and do not grow well on alkaline soils such as [[chalk]].<ref name=rhs/>

The nuts are an important food for [[jay]]s, [[pigeon]]s, and [[squirrel]]s. Several [[insect]]s, notably the [[weevil]] ''[[Curculio|Curculio elephas]]'' (chestnut weevil), also feed on the seeds.<ref name=rhs/>

The leaves are used as a food plant by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species ([[butterflies]] and [[moth]]s); see [[list of Lepidoptera that feed on chestnut trees]].

===Diseases===
A [[fungus|fungal]] disease, [[chestnut blight]] ''Cryphonectria parasitica'', affects chestnuts. The eastern Asian species have co-evolved with this disease and are moderately to very resistant to it, while the European and North American species, not having been exposed to it in the past, have little or no resistance.<ref name=rhs/>

Early in the 20th century, chestnut blight was introduced to North America by the importation of Asian chestnut plants. This resulted in the subsequent destruction of 3.5 billion American Chestnut trees{{Fact|date=December 2007}} over the next 40 years, and what had been the most important tree throughout the east coast was reduced to insignificance. The American chinkapins are also very susceptible to chestnut blight. The European and west Asian Sweet Chestnut is susceptible, but less so than the American.<ref name=rhs/>

The resistant species, particularly Japanese Chestnut and Chinese Chestnut but also Seguin's Chestnut and Henry's Chestnut, have been used in breeding programs in the US to create [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]]s with the American Chestnut that are also disease resistant.<ref name=rhs/>

==Uses==
===Nuts===
[[Image:2005chestnut.PNG|thumb|right|Chestnut output in 2005]]
[[Image:Kestaneci chestnut vendor.jpg|right|thumb|A kestaneci or chestnut vendor in [[Istanbul]]]]
[[Image:Chestnuts roasted.jpg|right|thumb|Roasted chestnuts in [[Cuisine of Australia|Melbourne]]]]
[[Image:Chestnuts02.jpg|right|thumb|Chestnuts]]
The nuts are an important food crop in southern Europe, southwestern and eastern Asia, and also in eastern North America before the arrival of chestnut blight. In southern Europe in the [[Middle Ages]], whole forest-dwelling communities which had scarce access to [[wheat]] flour relied on chestnuts as their main source of carbohydrates.

The nuts can be eaten candied, boiled or roasted; candied chestnuts are often sold under the [[French language|French]] name ''[[marrons glacés]]'' or [[Turkish language|Turkish]] name ''[[kestane şekeri]]''. Another important use of chestnuts is to be ground into [[flour]], which can then be used to prepare [[bread]], [[cake]]s and [[pasta]].

Another little known use is to eat chestnuts raw by just peeling them (almost unknown in North-America but customary at least in Northwest Europe). When chestnuts are fresh from the field/store, peeling is not easy. However, after leaving them out at room temperature for 24-48 hours, using a simple small, pointed kitchen knife will allow the consumer to easily peel away the outside shell. Next, you peel the thinner inside skin. Wash, and if present cut away contamination, and eat. Chestnuts' taste may vary slightly from one to the next but is somewhat sweet and certainly unique. After leaving chestnuts out for more than 5-7 days the quality starts to degrade.

Chestnut-based recipes and preparations are making a comeback in [[Italian cuisine]], as part of the trend toward rediscovery of traditional dishes.

===Other products===
The [[wood]] is similar to [[oak]] wood in being decorative and very durable. Due to disease, American Chestnut wood has almost disappeared from the market. Although quantities of Chestnut can still be obtained as [[reclaimed lumber]], it is difficult to obtain large timber from the Sweet Chestnut due to the high degree of splitting and warping when it dries.<ref name=edlin>Edlin, H. L. (1970). ''Trees, Woods and Man''. New Naturalist ISBN 00-213230-3.</ref> The wood of the Sweet Chestnut is most commonly used in small items where durability is important, such as fencing and wooden outdoor cladding ('shingles') for buildings. In Italy, it is also used to make barrels used for aging [[balsamic vinegar]]. 

The [[bark]] was also a useful source of natural [[tannin]]s, used for tanning [[leather]] before the introduction of synthetic tannins.<ref name=edlin/>

==Cultivation==
{{Expand-section|date=June 2008}}
Chestnuts grown for nut production are grown in [[orchard]]s with wide spacing between the trees to encourage low, broad crowns with maximum exposure to sunshine to increase nut production. On alkaline soils, chestnuts can be grown by [[grafting]] them onto [[oak]] rootstocks. Most wood production is done by [[coppice]] systems, cut on a 12 year rotation to provide small timber which does not split as badly as large logs.<ref name=edlin/>

Chestnuts for planting require storage in moist sand and chilling over the winter before sowing; drying kills the seed and prevents germination.

==Artistic references==
[[Image:Roastedchestnuts.JPG|thumb|'''Roasted California-grown chestnuts''' The nuts are scored before roasting to allow venting and facilitate peeling]]
*The jazz standard "[[April in Paris (song)|April in Paris]]" begins, ''"April in Paris / Chestnuts in blossom."''
*In the Polish film, ''[[Ashes and Diamonds (film)|Ashes and Diamonds]],'' two characters reminisce about the chestnut trees that once lined a famous boulevard destroyed in the [[Warsaw Uprising]].
*"[[The Christmas Song]]" begins with the phrase ''"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire."'' [[Nat King Cole]]'s hit recording is now a Christmas standard.
*In the movie ''[[Howards End (film)|Howards End]],'' Mrs. Ruth Wilcox ([[Vanessa Redgrave]]) tells of her childhood home, where superstitious farmers would place pigs' teeth in the bark of the chestnut trees and then chew on this bark to ease toothaches.
*In the novel ''[[Jane Eyre]],'' a chestnut tree outside of [[Thornfield Hall]] is broken in two by lightning. This foreshadows the break-up of Rochester and Jane's marriage.
*The opening lines of [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow|Longfellow's]] poem ''[[The Village Blacksmith]]'' are ''"Under a spreading chestnut-tree / the village smithy stands."'' This famous reference is much remarked upon by those involved in projects to return the American chestnut to the wild.
*In George Orwell's 1984 the chestnut tree is used in poems recited throughout, referring to nature, modern life and lies ie the saying; 'that old chestnut'.

==References==
{{commonscat|Castanea}}
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.greedygourmet.com/2007/11/16/roasted-chestnuts/ How to Roast Chestnuts]
*[http://www.acf.org/ The American Chestnut Foundation]
<gallery>
Image:Châtaigner (Castanea sativa) JPG01.jpg|A ''Castanea sativa'' tree
Image:Castanea crenata3.jpg|''Castanea crenata'' foliage
Image:Castanea dentata JPG.jpg|''Castanea dentata'' foliage
Image:Chestnut flowers.jpg|''Castanea sativa'' male catkins (pale buff) and female catkins (green, spiny, partly hidden by leaves)
Image:Chestnuts.jpg|Chestnuts inside their spiky capsule
Image:Chestnut03.jpg|Chestnuts can be found on the ground around trees
Image:Young chestnuts.jpg|Young chestnuts
Image:Edelkastanie.jpg|Chestnut wood. Note the splitting at the top of the log.
</gallery>

[[Category:Fagaceae]]
[[Category:Edible nuts and seeds]]

[[ar:الكستناءه]]
[[bg:Кестен]]
[[ca:Castanya]]
[[da:Kastanje]]
[[de:Kastanien]]
[[el:Καστανιά]]
[[es:Castanea]]
[[eo:Kastaneo]]
[[fr:Châtaigne]]
[[gl:Castiñeiro]]
[[ko:밤나무속]]
[[io:Kastano]]
[[it:Castanea]]
[[la:Castanea]]
[[nl:Kastanje]]
[[ja:クリ]]
[[pl:Kasztan]]
[[pt:Castanha]]
[[ru:Каштан]]
[[sr:Питоми кестен]]
[[fi:Kastanja]]
[[th:เกาลัด]]
[[tr:Kestane]]
[[uk:Каштан]]
[[zh:栗]]