A Curious Discovery
It began on Twin Oaks Lane, by the huge white oak tree which virtually strides the lane. At that place we met to search for an American Chestnut tree, previously observed by other naturalists on that same nature reserve. Our quest was simply to find it again and confirm or deny its true identity. Was it truly a native American Chestnut that stood before us on that warm and overcast afternoon, or a Chinese variety? The observed characteristics directed us to lean toward the latter, but who could really know for sure in winter.
We left the Tomer reserve and endeavored to find three separate trees at McGuiness Nature reserve. A nice stroll with two dogs at our heels, one resident to a nearby house, the other belonging to my guide, made for a pleasant adventure. We found the first tree, but it did not seem at first to resemble what we were looking for, based on the bark of the tree. But then, my intrepid leader picks up a Chestnut leaf off the ground which definitely does resemble that of the American Chestnut. I tell myself, the supposed expert on identification, to keep alert.
With little difficulty we found the next tree, the largest yet we had seen. I was amazed. It was much larger than a tree near my home which I had once suspected of being a native Chestnut, that one had since died, this tree must have been ten inches in diameter. Being so awe struck by the size of the tree before me, I missed the multitude of burs on the ground, again spotted first by my observant companion. The burs seemed sharp, contrasting the empirical evidence in favor of an American Chestnut identification. Now we weren't sure, the indicators seemed to go both ways, and we feared we would need to wait for summer or fall to finalize our quest.
The third and final discovery, not the trees themselves, for their location was already known, was curiously alarming. Cary, my guide that day, observed small orange colored markings between the cracks of the perforated bark. Her exclamation at first brought elation, but after an quick glance and an instant to collect my thoughts, I knew what they were. Several more instances elapsed and the emotion quickly turned to one of sadness mixed with joy. The sadness came from knowing that these cankers, a form of chestnut bark disease, almost surely would spell doom for this particular tree. Yet some aspect of joy remained at having seen so many American Chestnut trees. If we were able to see this many on land which likely was not old forest, and probably consisted of farming/grazing at one time, then we could only imagine how many yet existed out there.
American Chestnut Bark with Orange Fungus (blight)
