Once a common sight, Missouri’s native chestnut tree, Castanea ozarkensis, provided food for people and animals as well as wood for furniture and musical instruments. Now, the tree, also called the Ozark chinquapin, is unfamiliar to most Missourians. In the early 20th century, chestnut blight wiped out millions of Castanea ozarkensis. The remaining trees grow…
Tag: chestnut
A Partnership to Prevent Blight
Chinese chestnut blight has decimated North American members of the genus Castanea, which includes American chestnuts, Allegheny chinkapins, and Ozark chinquapins. The Missouri Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development (CCSD) and Horticulture Division are working with the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation (OCF) on a project that will reveal how well individual Ozark chinquapin trees…