Arkansas Tree Database

Scientific name:

Castanea Ozarkensis

Size:

50' tall or more, but usually small shrubs to 15' tall or small trees to 30' tall sprouting from stumps

Leaves:

alternate, simple, 5.5"-9.25" long, with coarse bristle-like teeth; dark green above and whitish beneath

Flowers:

creamy white panicles; May

Fruit:

spiny bur, golf-ball-sized, bountiful, containing highly prized brown edible nut

Fall Interest:

yellow-brown; deciduous

Culture:

sun; well-drained soil, ideally rocky dry poor soil on a slope

Disease/Insect:

susceptible to and devastated by chestnut blight

Use:

rot-resistant wood for barns, furniture, crossties, fence posts

Cultivars:

Notes:

efforts underway to develop and restore a blight-resistant tree; native to Arkansas