Bring back the American Chestnut

[Hittheroad]

When I am not wandering about the woods in my FWC, I am wandering about the woods with friends from the American Chestnut Foundation. There are still a few surviving American Chestnuts but they are too far apart to have sex with each other so we lend a helping hand. There are various ways to do this and the Foundation has developed some special blight resistant pollen. It is all very expensive and the Foundation would love to have some of your money. But one can also just bring the male flowers from one tree to fertilize the female flowers of another (miles away). Usually the flowers are very high up and not easy to get to. The following video shows how to have phone sex with a Chestnut. The Parrot drone is controlled by an I-phone app. In the balloon are male flowers. They are deposited onto the tree by means of a rifle shot.

This can all be seen at http://youtu.be/84ZK-CwKono

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Pretty interesting,just hope you don't shoot down the drone instead of the balloon.
Where has this been taking place? The chestnut is such a beautiful tree.
When we have been in Europe during the spring time it is nice sight to see them in bloom.
Frank

 

[Hittheroad]

The American Chestnut was an even grander tree than the European version. An east coast red wood. The trees we are dealing with are in western Massachusetts. The odds of getting any offspring to grow to the height that they used to grow to are not good and certainly are zero in our lifetime. But we have a good many seedlings started.
The drone does not seem to be too worried about getting hit but I don't know how much intelligence they program into it.

 

[highz]

What a great thing to be doing. Of course, I had to Google the American Chestnut Foundation. For those (like me) who didn't know about them, here's a link to their website and all that they are doing to bring back a magnificent tree.

Edit: I have a question, Hittheroad. I understand blight-resistant trees have been developed by hybridizing with the resistant Japanese Chestnut. Has anyone done a study to see if any of the remaining few mature American Chestnut survivors of the blight are resistant as well?

 

[Hittheroad]

Thank you Highz, I know I should have included the link but my ability to deal with the 21st Century was pretty much exhausted pasting in a link to Youtube.
You ask a very good question. There have been two major efforts to create a blight resistant Chestnuts. One has crossed American and Chinese trees. The offspring are grown for 6 or 7 years then they are all inoculated with the blight. Only a few percent survive this and these are used to start a new generation. Several generations later you have what is being used today. But even today only a small percentage are blight resistant. The other major effort has involved genetically engineered resistance.

As far as I know there are no formal programs to see if some of the few remaining fruitful wild trees have natural resistance. That is basically what we are doing now but we aren't being super scientific in our approach and it will take years to see if we are having any luck. Most fruitful wild trees die within a few years of fruiting. So it is generally believed that there is no natural resistance - just a few lucky trees.

Our mother tree, the one in the video, now has the blight. So far it continues to look healthy. If it survives a few more years we will have reason to believe that it has some natural resistance. But it usually takes the blight several years to kill a tree.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks,Hittheroad for this interesting topic.A project like I am sure takes a lifetime to see real hope for the trees.
Frank
Also thanks Highz for the link.Very interesting group.

 

[Smokecreek1]

I really enjoyed that---thanks !

Smoke

 

[sourdough-wtw]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/17/AR2010101703320.html

 

[takesiteasy]

Very interesting. I love the long term thinking and committment this demonstrates. The world needs more of that kind of effort and enterprise. Hittheroad, thanks for your work.

 

[takesiteasy]

Saw this in the NYTimes today about a fellow in Maine having some luck with American Chestnuts. Thought I would post a link here, being chestnut roasting season and all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/opinion/revitalizing-our-forests.html?_r=0&hp=&adxnnl=1&rref=opinion&adxnnlx=1387665859-XTbfce1GSo/oLPc7vqUENg