North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["loneroc" <loneroc@mwt.net>]

Check out http://www.badgersett.com/ for info on one edible chestnut
breeding program that incorporates American material.  Several of his plants
are doing OK here in Zone 3.  Of course, being outside the native range of
the chestnut, my pure Americans are doing just fine.  Now all I have to do
is try the nuts instead of just leaving them for the turkeys.  There's just
not time for everything.

Steve H. Lone Rock



> From a NAFEX perspective, there are some interesting issues that TACF
isn't really addressing (but I'm curious about them).  The American nut is
apparently much sweeter than either the Chinese or japanese - it also
contains a higher fat concentration and lower starch concentrations that the
other species.  (One article suggested that the flavor and composition of
the nut is influenced by the species of both the male and female parent -
since endosperm - nut meat - contains chromosomes from both parents, this
seems reasonable.) Unfortunately, the American nut is a lot smaller than
other species' nuts.  For a backyard orchardist, the ideal Chestnut tree
would probably grow fast, have the growth form of a Japanese or Chinese (low
and sprawling), be resistant to blight and phytophora, have nuts as large as
a Japanese tree, but with the sweet, rich flavor of the American.  Nobody's
breeding with these goals in mind, though.
>
> gene
> spears@lmc.edu
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