Castanea mollissima

The blight-resistant Chinese chestnut is in the beech or Fagaceae family and is native to central and eastern China and Korea. It is now the most commonly planted chestnut species in the U.S., while the European chestnut (C. sativa) also has been a source of commercial nuts in recent decades.

• The Chinese chestnut can be distinguished from the American chestnut (C. dentata) by its hairy twig tips which are in contrast to the hairless twigs of the American chestnut. Leaves are not as strongly toothed, short- stalked compared to the Spanish chestnut (Castanea sativa).
• The chestnut is monoecious; male flowers are creamy-yellow, forming slender, upright, in catkins up to 14 cm long in early summer; female flowers are at the base of the catkins.
• Shoots are persistently downy.