Chinese chestnut

Family

Fagaceae

Habit

Tree

Height

20 m

Spread

14 m

Growth

slow

Lifespan

150 years

First yield

after 6 years

Full yield

after 10 years

Hardiness

zone 4–8

Shade tolerance

partial shade

Soil

Sand, Silt, Loam

Soil moisture

semi-dry – very moist

pH

4.5 – 6.5

Times apply to the northern hemisphere in a temperate climate and shift with altitude and cultivar.

Edible: The nuts are rounded, finer-grained than those of the Japanese chestnut and good in flavour; they are considered sweeter and easier to peel than the European ones. When roasting, by contrast, they perform less well. They are prepared boiled, roasted or ground into flour.

A tree averaging about twenty metres in height whose crown can develop very broadly; allow generous space accordingly. Young shoots and buds are strikingly hairy, the leaves shortly pointed, oval, somewhat leathery and a rich glossy green above. The species is comparatively insensitive to winter frost. What does tell against it in Central European cultivation is that the foliage is shed poorly in autumn — early snowfall settles in the still-leafy crown and causes snow breakage. For soil and site the same applies as for the whole genus: acid, deep and free-draining soils, no waterlogging and no lime. Susceptible to: chestnut leaf spot (Mycosphaerella maculiformis, leaf blotches), oriental chestnut gall wasp (Dryocosmus kuriphilus, gall formation on young shoots), chestnut weevil (Curculio elephas, the larvae develop inside the nut and ruin the crop).

True-to-type propagation is by grafting onto seed-raised rootstocks. The seed is stored cool but frost-free over winter, usually beginning to germinate in the process, and is sown outdoors in spring. Seedlings turn out comparatively uniform in fruit quality and stay closer to the parent trees than is the case with the European chestnut, which makes raising from seed a sensible option here too. For fruit set at least two, better three genetically different individuals are needed.

Pollination is both by wind and by insects. The flowers are visited heavily by bees and other insects and count as valuable bee forage — the flowering period in June and July fills a gap when little else is in bloom. The nuts are eaten by squirrels, dormice and corvids, which also disperse them.

The most resistant of all chestnut species to chestnut blight and therefore the key partner in resistance breeding. It is distinctly hardier against winter frost than the Japanese species, because its area of origin lies in the north of its range. The nuts carry a small scar, are rounded, finer in texture and better flavoured than the Japanese ones — though they do not match the aroma of the European chestnut.

East Asia, centred on China and extending to the Korean peninsula. In Europe only in cultivation, in collections and in breeding programmes.

Woodland and mountain slopes, from sea level up to around 2,500 and locally 2,800 metres. The species grows on light as well as heavy, free-draining soils and copes with nutrient-poor sites too; acid to neutral conditions are preferred. Partial shade is tolerated, but yields are distinctly better in full sun. Once established, its drought tolerance is remarkable.