The tree has short stout paired spines on branches at the leaf node attachment. Identification Tip: There will often be a long, wide, flattened fruit pod that can be persistent through early winter.

Bark textures are relatively uniform by tree species and make a great visual marker for broad tree identification. Textures are divided into at least 18 types, from smooth (beech) to spiny (locust).

My largest and quickest-to-bear tree, now 12 years old, was actually grown by planting a Chinese chestnut. The tree has both a height and spread of about 20 feet, and it yields more than half a ...

Attacks of leaf miner don’t kill horse chestnuts (pictured) on their own, but leave them prey to other diseases, among them bleeding canker. Ultimately the tree can die.

Leaf distortion like that can also be a sign of water stress, trying to set new leaves when the soil is too dry. Make sure the plants have adequate water during times of growth. Crinkled leaves in ...

Garnas says chestnut experts are going in a few different directions now, looking at a range of genes that could make the trees more successful. But the 150 chestnuts at Kingman still have some ...

The chestnut is treasured as a near-lost mountain icon. Once, though, it was a tree of South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. Only after the blight grabbed national headlines was the earlier ...

Chestnut forests were destroyed by chestnut blight between 1904 and 1950. The genus Aesculus contains 13 to 19 tree species, some erroneously called chestnuts and others called buckeyes.

About 10 years ago, I was looking through a catalog from Forest Farm, a company that specializes in unusual trees and shrubs, and came across the horse chestnut tree.

The American chestnut tree almost disappeared during the 20th century. Bringing it back could provide a new staple crop—and help the planet.