Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Chinese Chestnut - Castanea mollissima   Blume
Members of Fagaceae:
Members of Castanea with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 6 » Order Fagales » Family Fagaceae
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AuthorBlume
DistributionMountains, southern Piedmont, and Sandhills; absent eastward on the Coastal Plain. Also collected from Cumberland, Haywood, Iredell, Rutherford, and Union counties, but these are from cultivated or persisting plants.

Native of China; in N.A. MA to MI and IL, south to FL and TX.
AbundanceGenerally rare, perhaps uncommon in the southern Mountains.
HabitatBorders of woods, near streams in woods, edge of crop field, clearings. Originally brought over to cross with the native American Chestnut (C. dentata), as the former is resistent to the blight.
PhenologyFlowering June-July; fruiting September-October.
IdentificationChinese Chestnut is very similar to American Chestnut, but the leaf undersides are rather tomentose and are short-pointed (vs. rather glabrous and acuminate in American Chestnut).
Taxonomic Comments
Other Common Name(s)
State RankSE
Global RankGNR
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USACE-agcp
USACE-emp
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B.A. SorrieSingle tree in disturbed land between NC 690 and Little River. MoorePhoto_non_natural
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