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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Chestnut
| image = Chestnuts on tree.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Sweet Chestnut
| 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''), including the '''chinkapin''', is a genus of eight or nine species of [[tree]]s and [[shrub]]s in the [[beech]] family [[Fagaceae]], native to warm temperate regions of the [[Northern Hemisphere]]. The name also refers to the edible [[nut (fruit)|nuts]] produced by these trees. Most are large trees to 20-40 m tall, but some species (the chinkapins) are smaller, often [[shrub]]by. All are flowering broadleafs with catkins.
The [[leaf|leaves]] of the American and European chestnut 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 (Bean 1970). The [[fruit]] is a spiny [[cupule]] 5-11 cm diameter, containing one to seven [[nut (fruit)|nuts]]. Chestnut trees thrive on acidic soils, such as soils derived from [[granite]] or [[schist]], and do not grow well on alkaline soils such as [[limestone]]. When wanting to grow chestnut trees on such soils, the practice was to graft them onto [[oak]] rootstocks.
Neither the [[Common Horse-chestnut|horse chestnut]] (family [[Sapindaceae]]) nor the [[Eleocharis dulcis|water chestnut]] (family [[Cyperaceae]]) is closely related to the chestnut, though both are so named for producing similar nuts. The name ''Castanea'' comes from an old Latin name for the sweet chestnut.
==Chinkapin==
The closely related golden chinkapin (''Castanopsis chrysophylla''), is a small broadleaf evergreen tree native to middle-elevation mountain areas of Northern [[California]] and the [[Pacific Northwest]]. The tree grows in small, [[clonal cluster]]s. Nuts are similar to chestnuts but much smaller and almost always [rot]ten. The [[wood]] is also similar to chestnut but like the nuts, has an extreme tendency to rot.
==Diseases==
The [[American Chestnut]], formerly one of the dominant trees of the eastern [[United States]], has been almost wiped out by a [[fungus|fungal]] disease, [[chestnut blight]], ''Cryphonectria parasitica''. The American chinkapins are also very susceptible to chestnut blight. The [[Europe]]an and west [[Asia]]n [[Sweet Chestnut]] is susceptible, but less so than the American, and the east Asian species are resistant. These 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]]s with the American Chestnut that are also disease resistant.
''Castanea'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species; see [[list of Lepidoptera which feed on Castanea]].
==Uses==
;Nuts
[[Image:Kestaneci chestnut vendor.jpg|left|thumb|A kestaneci or chestnut vendor in [[Istanbul]]]]
The [[nut (fruit)|nuts]] are an important food crop in southern Europe, southwestern and eastern [[Asia]], and also in eastern North America before the [[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; the former are often sold under the [[French language|French]] name ''marrons glacés''. One easy method for roasting is to cut a slit in the top of each nut and heat in a shallow container, tossing occasionally, at 400 °F for 10-15 minutes. The nuts must be slit as they tend to explode when roasted. They may also be pan-roasted or boiled.
Another important use of chestnuts is to be ground into [[flour]], which can then be used to prepare [[bread]], [[cake]]s and [[pasta]].
Chestnut-based recipes and preparations are making a comeback in [[Italian cuisine]], as part of the trend toward rediscovery of traditional dishes.
To preserve chestnuts to eat through the winter, they must be made perfectly dry after they come out of their green husk; then put into a box or a barrel mixed with, and covered over by, fine and dry sand, three parts of sand to one part of chestnuts. Any [[maggot]]s in any of the chestnuts will emerge and work up through the sand to get to the air without damaging other chestnuts. Chestnuts to be grown in the spring need to be kept in moist sand and chilled over the winter.
Chestnuts should not be confused with [[Common Horse-chestnut|Horse-chestnut]]s, which are used in the [[United Kingdom]] to play a game called [[conkers]]. Conkers, or Horse-chestnuts, are poisonous and are obtained from the tree of the same name.
;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. It is difficult to obtain large size timber from the Sweet Chestnut, due to the high degree of splitting and warping when it dries. The wood of the Sweet Chestnut is most 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.
==In popular culture==
*A reference to the chestnut tree was made in the movie "Howards End" directed by James Ivory and based on the novel by E.M.Forster, where Mrs. Ruth Wilcox (played by Vanessa Redgrave) converses with Ms. Margaret Schlegel (played by Emma Thompson) about her (Ms. Wilcox's)childhood home in "Howards End", where superstitious farmers would place pig teeth in the bark of the chest nut trees and then they would chew on the bark to ease the discomfort and pain derived from tooth aches.
==References==
{{commons|Castanea}}
*Bean, W. J. (1970). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'', 8th ed., revised. John Murray, London.
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=105816 Flora of North America:''Castanea'']
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=105816 Flora of China:''Castanea'']
<gallery>
Image:Chestnut.jpg|Ripe Sweet Chestnuts
Image:Chestnuts.jpg|Chestnuts inside their spiky capsule
Image:Chestnut03.jpg|Chestnuts can be found on the ground around trees
Image:Chestnut tree.jpg|A Sweet Chestnut tree
Image:Chestnut tree02.jpg|A Sweet Chestnut tree
Image:Chestnut flowers.jpg|Sweet Chestnut male catkins (pale buff) and female catkins (green, spiny, partly hidden by leaves)
Image:Young chestnuts.jpg|Young chestnuts
</gallery>
[[Category:Fagaceae]]
[[Category:Edible nuts and seeds]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = Chestnut
| image = Chestnuts on tree.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Sweet Chestnut
| 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''), including the '''chinkapin''', is a genus of eight or nine species of [[tree]]s and [[shrub]]s in the [[beech]] family [[Fagaceae]], native to warm temperate regions of the [[Northern Hemisphere]]. The name also refers to the edible [[nut (fruit)|nuts]] produced by these trees. Most are large trees to 20-40 m tall, but some species (the chinkapins) are smaller, often [[shrub]]by. All are flowering broadleafs with catkins.
The [[leaf|leaves]] of the American and European chestnut 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 (Bean 1970). The [[fruit]] is a spiny [[cupule]] 5-11 cm diameter, containing one to seven [[nut (fruit)|nuts]]. Chestnut trees thrive on acidic soils, such as soils derived from [[granite]] or [[schist]], and do not grow well on alkaline soils such as [[limestone]]. When wanting to grow chestnut trees on such soils, the practice was to graft them onto [[oak]] rootstocks.
Neither the [[Common Horse-chestnut|horse chestnut]] (family [[Sapindaceae]]) nor the [[Eleocharis dulcis|water chestnut]] (family [[Cyperaceae]]) is closely related to the chestnut, though both are so named for producing similar nuts. The name ''Castanea'' comes from an old Latin name for the sweet chestnut.
==Chinkapin==
The closely related golden chinkapin (''Castanopsis chrysophylla''), is a small broadleaf evergreen tree native to middle-elevation mountain areas of Northern [[California]] and the [[Pacific Northwest]]. The tree grows in small, [[clonal cluster]]s. Nuts are similar to chestnuts but much smaller and almost always [rot]ten. The [[wood]] is also similar to chestnut but like the nuts, has an extreme tendency to rot.
==Diseases==
The [[American Chestnut]], formerly one of the dominant trees of the eastern [[United States]], has been almost wiped out by a [[fungus|fungal]] disease, [[chestnut blight]], ''Cryphonectria parasitica''. The American chinkapins are also very susceptible to chestnut blight. The [[Europe]]an and west [[Asia]]n [[Sweet Chestnut]] is susceptible, but less so than the American, and the east Asian species are resistant. These 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]]s with the American Chestnut that are also disease resistant.
''Castanea'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species; see [[list of Lepidoptera which feed on Castanea]].
==Uses==
;Nuts
[[Image:Kestaneci chestnut vendor.jpg|left|thumb|A kestaneci or chestnut vendor in [[Istanbul]]]]
The [[nut (fruit)|nuts]] are an important food crop in southern Europe, southwestern and eastern [[Asia]], and also in eastern North America before the [[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; the former are often sold under the [[French language|French]] name ''marrons glacés''. One easy method for roasting is to cut a slit in the top of each nut and heat in a shallow container, tossing occasionally, at 400 °F for 10-15 minutes. The nuts must be slit as they tend to explode when roasted. They may also be pan-roasted or boiled.
Another important use of chestnuts is to be ground into [[flour]], which can then be used to prepare [[bread]], [[cake]]s and [[pasta]].
Chestnut-based recipes and preparations are making a comeback in [[Italian cuisine]], as part of the trend toward rediscovery of traditional dishes.
To preserve chestnuts to eat through the winter, they must be made perfectly dry after they come out of their green husk; then put into a box or a barrel mixed with, and covered over by, fine and dry sand, three parts of sand to one part of chestnuts. Any [[maggot]]s in any of the chestnuts will emerge and work up through the sand to get to the air without damaging other chestnuts. Chestnuts to be grown in the spring need to be kept in moist sand and chilled over the winter.
Chestnuts should not be confused with [[Common Horse-chestnut|Horse-chestnut]]s, which are used in the [[United Kingdom]] to play a game called [[conkers]]. Conkers, or Horse-chestnuts, are poisonous and are obtained from the tree of the same name.
;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. It is difficult to obtain large size timber from the Sweet Chestnut, due to the high degree of splitting and warping when it dries. The wood of the Sweet Chestnut is most 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.
==In popular culture==
*A reference to the chestnut tree was made in the movie "Howards End" directed by James Ivory and based on the novel by E.M.Forster, where Mrs. Ruth Wilcox (played by Vanessa Redgrave) converses with Ms. Margaret Schlegel (played by Emma Thompson) about her (Ms. Wilcox's)childhood home in "Howards End", where superstitious farmers would place pig teeth in the bark of the chest nut trees and then they would chew on the bark to ease the discomfort and pain derived from tooth aches.
==References==
{{commons|Castanea}}
*Bean, W. J. (1970). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'', 8th ed., revised. John Murray, London.
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=105816 Flora of North America:''Castanea'']
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=105816 Flora of China:''Castanea'']
<gallery>
Image:Chestnut.jpg|Ripe Sweet Chestnuts
Image:Chestnuts.jpg|Chestnuts inside their spiky capsule
Image:Chestnut03.jpg|Chestnuts can be found on the ground around trees
Image:Chestnut tree.jpg|A Sweet Chestnut tree
Image:Chestnut tree02.jpg|A Sweet Chestnut tree
Image:Chestnut flowers.jpg|Sweet Chestnut male catkins (pale buff) and female catkins (green, spiny, partly hidden by leaves)
Image:Young chestnuts.jpg|Young chestnuts
</gallery>
[[Category:Fagaceae]]
[[Category:Edible nuts and seeds]]