Chestnut

Description

The chestnut is a majestic tree (25-35 m) with long branches and large toothed null and void Feuille S (which can go up to 25 cm length on 4 to 8 cm broad). When it is of number, it forms a Châtaigneraie.

The chestnut flowers from June to July, the Fleur S males then spread a strong odor of Sperme. One collects his sweet chestnuts as from October. The plant is Monoïque: one finds on the same tree of the unisexuées flowers, laid out in drawn up kittens with flowering, the males at the base of the branches and females more at the top.

The bug, Involucre green thorn-bush, wraps the Fruit S. It corresponds to a transformation of the Bractée S. Inside the bug are the Châtaigne S, 1 to 3, which are, with the botanical direction, of the dry fruits of type Akène S. Each one of these fruits is formed of a thin hull and coriace containing a Graine. The hull is a Péricarpe having the three traditional layers of the wall of a fruit: épicarpe, Mésocarpe and endocarpe. The seed is wrapped in a tegument, a film reddish, astringent, which penetrates in the folds of almond, and which it is necessary to withdraw before consuming sweet chestnut. The varieties of sweet chestnuts, whose tegument of seed does not partition almond, are called maroon S .

Etymology

Chestnut comes from Latin castanea , itself derived from the Greek kastanon . This name would refer to Kastanon , a town of Thessalie re-elected in the Antiquité for the quality of sweet chestnuts that one collected there. Castanea was the old name of the Chêne S before indicating the chestnut.

Sativus means “cultivated” in Latin. The chestnut was called Breadfruit tree for the food values of its fruits. It replaced the Céréale S in most of the the Cevennes for example.

Surface of distribution

The chestnut is a spontaneous species around the the Mediterranean. One finds it in North Africa (Algérie, Morocco, Tunisia), in the southernmost Europe, of the Iberian peninsula to the Greece like in Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Albania and also in Romania. It also extends in Asia Mineure (Turkey) and in the area from the the Caucasus (Arménie, Georgia, Azerbaïdjan…).

It was introduced in Great Britain by the Romains. It is in addition cultivated in many countries.

In France, the chestnut is present at the natural state in Corsica, in Ardèche (the Cevennes), in the the southernmost Alps, the the Eastern Pyrenees, the the Limousin, in Auvergne and Brittany. It is rare in North and the North-East.

With a million D `hectares, the chestnut is the third French leafy gasoline. The chestnut groves would at present occupy a surface higher than 5000 km ² either approximately 4% of the French forest field (or a surface equivalent to that existing in the Italian field forest, but where the chestnut is especially cultivated in Taillis).

The Capitulary De Villis, written at the time of Charlemagne, encourages with the development of the culture of the châtaigner. She knew her apogee in France with S. In the the Limousin, the Châtaigne was the independent source of food to S.

Use

Wood

The wood of chestnut is a hard wood which was used formerly for the Tonnellerie (manufacture of the circles of barrels) and out of wooden of mine. It was used for the prop in the Vigne S because of its resistance to corruption in the ground. Pushing back easily after the cut, it produces regular and easy stems of employment.

It is always used in cabinet work, Menuiserie, small Charpente and, in a marginal way, for the cover of buildings (roofing stone S of chestnut). It is used little for the realization of beams of great section, because wood tends to be detached according to the rings from growth (rolled edge). One finds however in the Top-Cantons of the Herault of the old houses with their beams of origin in chestnut. There exists a craft industry small objects out of wooden of chestnut, whose Castagnettes are the most known example. In Basket making, the young poles from three to eight years of age are split and planed carefully to build very robust baskets.

It is also a wood rich in Tanin S. It contains some from 4 to 11% and was largely exploited for this purpose of 1890 to 1960, in particular in the area Lyon is born, which led to the destruction of whole settlements.

It is an average firewood.

Food

Culture

The chestnut is a thermophilous species (he likes heat), heliophilous (he likes the light) or of half-shade. Frost-susceptible of spring, it needs heat in summer and water in September. The old ones said: " in August, the sweet chestnut must be in a furnace, in September in a well… "

It is a silicicolous tree , which likes the ground S Schiste ux, Granit ic and Alluvion naires and which fears before all the grounds basic or rich in Calcaire. It is a species Acidophile (likes the acid grounds), it forms forests acidophiles, Chênaie S on acid grounds.

It thrives in average mountain (800 m), sometimes up to 1200 m of altitude. In the zones limestones, it would be possible to graft the chestnut on Chêne stalk.

The pruning of the deadwood, wood weakest and the Gourmand S makes it possible to obtain sweet chestnuts of larger gauge.

Varieties

There exist very many old and modern varieties. Certain varieties result from the hybridization, natural or artificial, between two species: the European chestnut (Castanea sativa) and the chestnut of Japan (Castanea crenata). They are generally more resistant to the canker and the disease of ink that the indigenous varieties. It is the case of varieties in fat below:

Enemies of the chestnut

diseases: two diseases constitute a real problem and involved the decline of the tree at the 20th century:

the Disease of ink ( Phytophthora cinnamomi or P. will cambivora ),
the Chancre of the bark ( Nectria or Cryphonectria parasitica ).

devastating:

the disparate Xylébore attacks wood;
the Carpocapse of the sweet chestnuts and the Balanin of the sweet chestnuts make damage on the fruits;
the Cynips new ravageur appeared in Italy (probably introduced with the importation of seedlings come from China) a few years ago and which was located in France in 2005. It causes the formation of Galle S on the level of the buds and it is responsible for an important fall of production. He threatens the existence of the traditional varieties in France.

Close relations to the common chestnut

the Chestnut of Japan ( Castanea crenata Siebold and Zucc.)
the Chestnut of China (or chestnut of Ducloux) ( Castanea mollissima Blume)
the Chestnut of America ( Castanea dentata Borkh.)
the Chestnut chinkapin of Allegheny ( Castanea pumila Mich. and Millet.)

Certain trees having in their current denomination the name of chestnut do not have actually any relationship with the family of Fagacées: chestnuts of Brazil, of the Antilles, of Guyana, of Hefty fellow, of Tahiti, inter alia. The “fault” seeming to fall to the Iberian conquerors of S. about it.

Others

the Museum of the chestnut grove , located at Merry in the Department of Ardeche, economically allows the discovery of the culture of the most important tree of the department. It presents a collection of old tools, objects usual and of furniture. In complement, he proposes the path of the chestnut. See the site.

References

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