In the 1900s, a rapid die-off of American chestnut trees occurred across the U.S., known as the chestnut blight, due to a fungus-causing disease that originated with imported Japanese chestnut trees. This was truly devastating to landowners who managed wildlife, as most game animals prefer chestnuts. Enter the Realtree Nursery and its Dunstan chestnut trees. These chestnut trees are blight resistant and provide a larger, sweeter chestnut, which is perfect for wildlife.
The Dunstan chestnut tree came about by the discovery of a lone American chestnut tree by James Carpenter of Salem, Ohio, in 1950. The tree had survived the blight. Carpenter, a member of the Northern Nut Growers Association (NNGA), even subjected the tree to active blight spores, but it never developed the disease. Carpenter sent a sample of budwood to a fellow NNGA member and well-known plant breeder Dr. Robert T. Dunstan in Greensboro, N.C. Dunstan used the budwood to graft onto chestnut restock, and cross-pollinated the trees with USDA-released Chinese chestnut selections. Thus he created a superior chestnut tree with blight resistance – the Dunstan chestnut.
The resulting Dunstan chestnut trees were moved to north central Florida in 1962 where they have been growing and bearing chestnuts every year! In 1984, the Realtree Nursery planted a grove of 500 Dunstan chestnuts and now many are more than 50 feet tall and 12 to 16 inches in diameter, and there hasn’t been a single reported incidence of blight.
Growers across the U.S., at thousands of locations, are reporting excellent growth, survival and nut production of Realtree Nursery’s Dunstan chestnut trees. Many chestnut trees sold in the U.S. are not blight resistant, and only blight-resistant trees will produce chestnuts in most areas. Realtree Nursery’s Dunstan chestnut trees are guaranteed blight resistant.
Realtree Nursery’s Dunstan chestnuts grow rapidly and upright with spreading branches, much like the American chestnut, and unlike the smaller Chinese chestnut form. The trees can grow up to 100 feet tall, and produce heavy yearly crops of very large, sweet-tasting chestnuts. These chestnuts average about 15 to 35 nuts per pound, where as Chinese variations average 35 to 100 nuts per pound. The chestnuts will ripen in September and October and most fall free from the burrs for easy harvesting, which is perfect for fall hunting seasons.
The Dunstan chestnut tree might just be the best comeback story for wildlife management in the past century. Now you can reintroduce the chestnut to the wildlife on your land, and keep them coming back for more, with Realtree Nursery’s Dunstan chestnut trees.
For more information, visit online at www.realtreenursery.com, or by calling toll-free 1-855-386-7826.