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Flower: Monoecious; many small, pale
green (nearly white) male flowers found tightly occuring
along 6 to 8 inch catkins; females found near base of
catkins (near twig), appearing in late spring to early
summer. Fruit: Large, round spiny husk (very sharp), 2 to 2
1/2 inch in diameter, enclosing 2 to 3 shiny, chestnut brown
nuts, 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter, mostly round but flattened
on 1 or 2 sides ripen in early fall. Twig: Moderately stout,
hairless, chestnut- to orange-brown in color, numerous
lighter lenticels; buds are orange-brown, 1/4 inch long,
covered with 2 or 3 scales (they somewhat resemble a kernel
of wheat), buds are set slightly off center from
semicircular leaf scar.
Bark: Smooth and chestnut-brown in color when young, later
shallowly fissured into flat ridges, older trees develop
distictive large, interlacing ridges and furrows. Blight
infested bark is sunken and split, often with orange fungal
fruiting bodies. Once a very tall, well formed, massive tree
reaching over 100 feet tall, the chestnut is now found
mostly as stump sprouts, less than 20 feet tall. Larger
stems are often deformed by blight and sprouting below
cankers.
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