This information is from The American Chestnut Foundation The American Chestnut Story: Those who knew the tree will never forget it. Not too long ago, the American chestnut was one of the most important trees of forests from Maine south to Florida, from the Piedmont west to the Ohio valley. In the heart of its range only a few generations ago, a count of trees would have turned up one chestnut for every four oaks, birches, maples and other hardwoods. Many of the dry ridgetops of the central Appalachians were so thoroughly crowded with chestnut that, in early summer, when their canopies were filled with creamy-white flowers, the mountains appeared snow-capped. And the trees could be giants. In virgin forests throughout their range, mature chestnuts averaged up to five feet in diameter and up to one hundred feet tall. Many specimens of eight to ten feet in diameter were recorded, and there were rumors of trees bigger still. Then the chestnut blight struck . . . First discovered in 1904 in New York City, the lethal fungus - an Asian organism to which our native chestnuts had very little resistance - spread quickly. In its wake it left only dead and dying stems. By 1950, except for the shrubby root sprouts the species continually produces (and which also quickly become infected), the keystone species on some nine million acres of eastern forests had disappeared. Regular price: $45.00 Sale price: $40.00 $12.00 Please visit our warehouse of wonderful old house parts at: Sylvan Brandt LLC 651 East Main Street Lititz,Pa. 17543 Or call (717)626-4520 for any questions.