Seed production of mature forest-grown American chestnut (Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh)1

Abstract

Abstract Gilland, K. E. (Department of Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens OH 45701), C. H. Keiffer (Department of Botany, Miami University, Oxford OH 45042), and B. C. McCarthy (Department of Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens OH 45701). Seed production of mature forest-grown American chestnut (Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh). J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 139: 283–289. 2012.—Few records concerning pre-blight seed production of forest grown American chestnut (Castanea dentata) exist. As blight resistant American chestnut becomes available to use in restoration efforts, many conservation groups are interested in reintroducing the species as a wildlife food resource. As part of a long-term ecological study involving a disjunct population of American chestnut in Wisconsin, we examined seed production of mature forest grown trees in fall 2005 and 2006. Eleven large diameter (> 23 cm DBH), overstory position, fruiting American chestnuts were selected and measured for height, ...