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chestnut blight |
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chestnut blightPlant disease caused by the fungus Endothia parasitica. Accidentally imported from East Asia and first observed in 1904 in New York, it has killed almost all native American chestnuts (Castanea dentata) in the U.S. and Canada and is destructive in other countries. Other blight-susceptible species include the European chestnut (C. sativa), the post oak (Quercus stellata), and the live oak. Symptoms include reddish brown bark patches that develop into sunken or swollen and cracked cankers that kill twigs and limbs. Leaves on such branches turn brown and wither but remain attached for months. Gradually the entire tree dies. The fungus persists for years in short-lived sprouts from old chestnut roots and in less susceptible hosts. It is spread locally by splashing rain, wind, and insects, and over long distances by birds. Chinese (C. mollissima) and Japanese (C. crenata) chestnuts are resistant. |
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? Mentioned in | ? References in periodicals archive | |
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Howard Burnett responds: The American chestnut (castanea dentata) was once a principle component of the eastern hardwood forests, but the species has been almost totally removed by the chestnut blight. Devastating as the chestnut blight was, it missed some trees. Farmers of the region have weathered ups and downs of the market, loss of forest grazing with the denudation of the southern Appalachian forests to logging followed by fires and erosion, the loss of close markets when railroads and livestock raising in the west destroyed local industry, and the loss of the valuable American Chestnut tree to the Asian chestnut blight. |
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