Chestnut Mast Volume 12, Issue 1 The Carolinas Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation ® Spring 2010 Chinkapin, chestnut’s little brother By Paul Sisco Range map of the ® Ozark chinkapin, CC-TACF Vice-President Castanea ozarkensis. Map courtesy This issue of The Chestnut Mast features of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. the chinkapin, chestnut’s “little brother.” The chinkapin (also spelled chinquapin) is a close relative of the American chestnut, but with only a single nut per bur. It commonly has a dwarfed, bush-like stature species, Allegheny (Castanea pumila) but attains tree size in the Ozark Mountains and Ozark chinkapin (Castanea of Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and a few ozarkensis). Maps of the range of the two other places in the South. species are shown. American chinkapins have been Dr. Joe James of The Carolinas Chapter— divided into as many as seven species, The American Chestnut Foundation® and because there is so much variation in leaf Dr. Hill Craddock of The University of A range map of the Allegheny chinkapin, shape and plant stature among them. For Tennessee at Chattanooga have collected Castanea pumila. Map courtesy of the U.S. our purposes, we will include only the two chinkapins from around the South and are Department of Agriculture. most widely recognized chinkapin trying to breed chinkapins that are resistant to both chestnut blight and Phytophthora See page 4 for more about chinkapins (left) and chestnuts (right). Photo by Paul Sisco. root rot disease. Chinkapins, like their big brothers, the chestnut trees, are susceptible to both chestnut blight and root rot. Chinkapins are very much part of the culture of the South. The small nuts are said to be sweeter than chestnuts. Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks and Seminoles, as well as southern white and black kids of later years, munched on them like candy, strung them as beads or used them in games. See CHINKAPIN / Page 6 In This Issue President’s message .............. Page 2 Back to Sin City .................... Page 3 Chinkapins vs. chestnuts ....... Page 4 Orchard tour .......................... Page 5 Recipe ................................... Page 7 President’s Message Chestnut restoration merican chestnut trees having been trees for blight resistance and American fighting the Battle of the Blight growth characteristics. If successful, these Carolinas Chapter for more than 100 years. Have plantings will represent our early efforts The American Chestnut Foundation® A www.carolinas-tacf.org they surrendered? Have we? No! “Nuts” towards restoring the species. is the answer. That is B3F3 nuts — now The road ahead is a long one to [email protected] called “restoration chestnuts” — the type say the least. Many new recruits and ® that The American Chestnut Foundation additional funding will be needed to Board of Directors (TACF®) and its state chapters are carry out restoration. TACF® and its state Doug Gillis, President breeding at Meadowview Research Farms chapters must partner with agencies and and in chapter orchards. institutions, both public and private, Paul Sisco, Vice-President These nuts are approximately 15/16 to bring restoration plans to fruition. Carol Namkoong, Secretary American and 1/16 Chinese and resist State chapters were asked to establish Don Surrette, Treasurer chestnut blight. An estimated 13,000 nuts restoration branches (a subset of the Steve Barilovits III were produced at Meadowview last fall chapter in a particular locale) and hold Lee Gragg with the hope of increased production in meetings that reach local communities Joe James 2010. These nuts are used for progeny to share the TACF® story and mission. Brian Joyce testing to evaluate the trees and start early Branches will be a means of recruiting Ron Myers restoration efforts. new members and volunteers. Scott Pryor Pennsylvania will have restoration What will our chapter do in 2010 to Russell Regnery chestnuts from its chapter orchards in prepare for the planting of restoration Judy Sutton 2013. Other state chapters will produce chestnuts? their own regionally adapted restoration chestnuts within the next five to 15 years. • Advise TACF® of our orchards’ Newsletter Editor TACF®, in cooperation with state status, and indicate when Tiffany Lane chapters, is developing a tactical plan with restoration chestnuts will be [email protected] a 25-year horizon to restore American produced. We expect the first 704-608-0349 chestnut trees. The draft plan will be chapter restoration chestnuts to presented and discussed further at the be available by 2020. Those from board meeting, April 17-18, 2010, at Meadowview will be available Carolinas Chapter Meadowview Research Farms. TACF® sooner and distributed throughout c/o Doug Gillis will develop a strategic plan for bringing the chestnuts’ native range. 10607 Newberry Park Lane in partners (federal agencies, state forest Charlotte, NC 28277 agencies, academic partners and non- • Identify restoration cells within the [email protected] governmental organizations) to participate Carolinas, and prioritize several 704-542-0627 in restoration efforts and extend the time sites with good chestnut habitat horizon beyond 25 years. potential for planting of forest plots Current thinking is that 200 to 500 with restoration chestnuts. restoration chestnut seedlings will be Photos by Paul Sisco, Doug Gillis, planted in plots of one acre or more • Identify land owners, governmental Nancy Pryor, Hill Craddock and in areas within restoration cells where and private, who will make Hannah Miller chestnut habitat potential is good. Trees property available for planting the planted in each plot will be protected first few sites identified. Sir Speedy Printing, Asheville, N.C. with deer fencing as needed, given soil supplements as necessary and evaluated • Determine whether state nurseries Restoration of the American chestnut regularly. Data will be collected will help us grow nuts into will be exciting and provide great and entered into a national database seedlings. Some plots may be opportunities for many people to be maintained by TACF®. After four to direct-seeded, while others will ® involved. How might you help? five years of growth, TACF and state be established by transplanting Do you know of people, organizations chapters will see how well plantings and seedlings. or communities that might want to be part plot management are going and make any of a restoration branch? adjustments. • Identify two restoration branch ® Please let me know. I can be reached Although TACF is still evaluating prospects by April 15, 2010, and at [email protected] or at restoration chestnuts, it is time to start schedule organizational events with 704-542-0627. restoration efforts. Actual restoration is each throughout the year. We have a job every bit as large as the breeding one scheduled in Asheville, N.C., program, and there is still much this summer. to be learned. Our early “restoration” Doug Gillis plantings will focus on testing these Spring 2010 Back to Sin City, chestnut style By Scott Pryor Secondly, this little delicacy made a many licks?” Student B’s goal was to great projectile. It was round and could fly guess the correct number of nuts in Edneyville, N.C. through the air with little resistance. Student A’s fist. It had enough weight that if hit in the As an adult, I have been to Las Vegas head by this projectile, it would leave a three times. Once attending a convention, See SIN CITY / Page 7 small pump-knot. It also had a very tough the second time as a tourist, the last was exterior, making it reusable for many on a golfing trip with my buddies. Each chinquapin fights. visit gave me an opportunity to indulge in The third and most morally corrupting a few games of chance. was its use in a game of chance, called With each visit, I won a few dollars. Jack-in-the-Bush. The game was frowned You can’t win or lose much when you are on by our teachers, because they claimed wagering quarters. The eye-opener for me that it would teach us to gamble. It did. was the excitement and thrill of gambling. The game was played like this: Student Yes, I said it — gambling. Let’s back up A, with a closed fistful of chinquapins, some 60 years and investigate the origin of approached student B and stated, “Jack-in- these feelings. the-Bush.” In the early and mid-1950s, the blight Student B replied by saying, “Cut him killed all the chestnut trees, and this same down.” Student A then replied, “How blight was killing the chinquapin bushes. The chinquapins were dying at a slower rate than the chestnuts but were quite At the right, Scott, his daughter and prolific at the edge of my grandfather’s grandchildren. Photo by Nancy Pryor. pastures in northern Henderson County. At bottom left, Scott’s grandson, Nolan, bravely During September and early October, we poking a chestnut bur. Photo by Nancy Pryor. younger cousins were allowed to follow At bottom right, Scott with his brother, Mick, our older cousins and hunt chinquapins. and his late father, Paul, at Scott’s chestnut On most hunts, we would gather enough orchard in Edneyville, N.C. Photo by Paul Sisco. to fill both front pockets and both hip pockets. My memory of the chinquapin was that it was almost sweet to the taste but very difficult to remove the hull. A large chinquapin was almost the size of a large English pea and round in shape. The students at Edneyville Elementary had several uses for this little nut. Original Sin During the fall of my third grade, I learned three major uses for a pocketful of chinquapins. First, the small nut was delicious; we ate them one at a time by crushing them between the molars and spitting out the hull. Chinkapins vs. chestnuts By Paul Sisco CC-TACF® Vice-President There are three big differences between the American chestnut and the two North American chinkapin species.