What is a similar tree to a Chinquapin?
The only lookalikes for the chinquapin, are the chestnut and horse chestnut trees, both having spiny burrs. The chestnut is also perfectly edible, however the horse chestnut ( Aesculus hippocastanum) is not.
What is the scientific name for Chinquapin?
Chinquapin. Chinquapin, also spelled Chinkapin, any of several species of deciduous trees of the genus Castanea and evergreen trees and shrubs of the genus Castanopsis, both in the beech family (Fagaceae).
Can a chinquapin tree grow back?
Today, the chinquapin survives mostly as root suckers that re-sprout after the above-ground portion of the tree is killed, and therefore very few seeds are produced to re-populate the species. There are still rare large trees throughout the range that have not succumbed to the blight.
Where do chinquapins grow?
The evergreen chinquapins of the genus Castanopsis comprise about 110 Asian species. Many are found in tropical areas, and several are considered keystone species in their forest habitats. Most produce edible nuts, and some are cultivated as ornamental or timber trees.
Where do chinquapin trees grow?
Distribution: Chinkapin is native to the eastern and southern United States. Its native range is from New Jersey and West Virginia, west to Missouri and Oklahoma, and south to Texas and Florida. It has been planted in Wisconsin and Michigan where it has become a forest tree.
How tall do chinquapin trees get?
The chinkapin oak grows to a height of 40–50' and a spread of 50–60' at maturity.
Are chinquapin nuts edible?
The nut is the only edible part of the chinquapin tree, as the leaves and bark contain toxic tannins. The nut can be roasted much like the chestnut, and eaten whole as a snack.
What does chinquapin look like?
The chinquapin, or chinkapin, is a sister species to the American chestnut. It grows in a hard, spikey burr on a squatty tree that looks similar to the American chestnut tree.
How long does it take a chinquapin tree to produce?
3-5 yearsUnder good conditions your tree will start to produce nuts in 3-5 years. Ozark chinquapins are not self-pollinating and will need another tree.
Is chinkapin oak the same as Pin Oak?
Taxonomists find it hard to agree on the exact number. It's too big a question to answer here, but there are certainly differences. Chinkapin oak is Quercus muehlenbergii, and pin oak is Quercus palustris. Try popping those Latin names into a search engine for some comparative notes.
Is chestnut the same as chinquapin?
The chinquapin, or chinkapin, is a sister species to the American chestnut. It grows in a hard, spikey burr on a squatty tree that looks similar to the American chestnut tree.
What does a chinkapin nut look like?
0:381:41Wild And Edible. Chinkapin Nuts - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipYou can cut it in half with a knife the shell is actually extremely thin and pliable. It's reallyMoreYou can cut it in half with a knife the shell is actually extremely thin and pliable. It's really not difficult at all and you get a lot of meat. Out of it and it's got kind of a sweet taste to it.
Can you eat chinkapin acorns?
The acorns of chinquapin oak are sweet and edible when roasted [11].
How do you identify a chinquapin tree?
0:131:42Chinquapin Oak - How to Locate and Identify - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipBut they have that textbook looking chestnut leaf oak with the jagged leaves Chinquapin oak hasMoreBut they have that textbook looking chestnut leaf oak with the jagged leaves Chinquapin oak has white bark. It's a Kearns or rather small.
How do you identify a chinquapin oak?
Chinkapin oaks are found on dry, limestone outcrops in the wild and perform well in alkaline soils. Its glossy, coarsely-toothed leaves are yellow-green and small compared to most oaks. Young trees retain a pyramidal to oval habit with a pale gray, scaly ridged central trunk.
What is chinkapin wood?
Chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) is a native oak which is often not recognized as an oak when first encountered. It does not have lobed leaves like most other oaks; its leaves are toothed like a chestnut. Like all oaks, it does have a cluster of buds at the end of branches.
What is chinkapin oak?
The chinkapin oak is also commonly referred to as a yellow chestnut oak, rock oak or yellow oak. Early pioneers used its straight wood to make thousands of miles of fences in the states of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Later on, the trees were used to fuel the steamships that ran from Pittsburgh to New Orleans.
What type of soil does Chinkapin oak grow in?
The chinkapin oak grows in acidic, alkaline, loamy, moist, sandy, well-drained, wet and clay soils. It tolerates wet conditions and some drought but does best in well-drained areas that do not experience severe drought.
How tall is a chinquapin tree?
You’ll also often find it growing in the company of pecan trees and also oak. The chinquapin is a small tree, reaching only a third of the height (10m) of its Northern relative the American chesnut ( Castanea dentata ). The leaves are simple, serrated, lance shapes, no longer than 15cm.
What is a chinquapin?
As its other name suggests, chinquapin is a species of chestnut, bearing small nuts that are rounder in shape. You’ll tend to find it growing on high ground, with particularly sandy, very well draining soils.
Why are chinquapins so small?
Their small population numbers were caused by the spread of chestnut blight, killing off a great number of American chestnuts, as well as denting the dwarf chestnut population.
What are the two species of chinquapins?
Inhabiting similar mountainous slopes two species of chinquapins from a different genus can be found here, the golden chinquapin ( Chrysolepis chrysophylla) and also the bush chinquapin (Chrysolepis sempervirens).
Why hang chinquapin nuts?
To enhance the sweetness of the nut, it is often recommended to hang the nuts in a porous bag, to allow them to dry and for the starches to break down into sugars. Native Americans recognised the importance of chinquapin nuts, incorporating them into their seasonal food diet.
When do chinquapin trees ripen?
The tree reaches fruiting maturity at around 4 years old, so don’t be surprised if you encounter a few young trees which don’t seem to hold any fruits. The chinquapin fruits begin to ripen in the fall, splitting open to reveal the nut within.
Is it safe to eat chinquapin nuts?
The nuts of the chinquapin are perfectly safe to consume. However like many foods, they should be eaten in moderation. The only lookalikes for the chinquapin, are the chestnut and horse chestnut trees, both having spiny burrs. The chestnut is also perfectly edible, however the horse chestnut ( Aesculus hippocastanum) is not.
A Native Oak With Chestnut-Like Leaves
Nadia Hassani is a gardening expert with nearly 20 years of experience in landscaping, garden design, and vegetable and fruit gardening. She became a Penn State Master Gardener in 2006 and is a regular contributor to Penn State Master Gardener publications.
Chinkapin Oak Care
Chinkakpin oak is a low-maintenance tree; the only finicky part is to transplant it successfully. The tree has a deep root system with a taproot and when it’s sold as a balled and burlapped tree at a nursery, a significant portion of the root system might be missing.
Types of Chinkapin Oak
There are no cultivars of chinkapin oak, but there is dwarf chinkapin oak or dwarf chestnut oak, also a native. It that can be grown as a large shrub or small tree that reaches 12 to 25 ft. in height and 12 to 25 ft. in width.
Pruning
Except for removing crossing, broken or diseased branches, the tree does not require pruning. Only prune while the tree is dormant and not during the growing season, as it stresses the tree and makes it more susceptible to oak wilt. 1
How to Grow Chinkapin Oak From Seed
To successfully grow chinkapin oak from acorns, collect them immediately after they dropped. Place them in a bowl of cold water; viable seeds will sink to the bottom while those with low viability will float. Discard those and plant the viable acorns right away to achieve optimum germination rate.
Common Pests & Plant Diseases
As a native tree, chinkapin oak is relatively resistant to insects and diseases. But when the tree is under stress, such as from too much or too little water, soggy or compacted soil, or road salt, it can be affected by disease. One of the most damaging is the fungus oak wilt, which kills the tree in fewer than a few years.
What is the name of the chinquapin?
The Ozark chinquapin was described originally as Castanea arkansana (Ashe 1923) but later renamed as C. ozarkensis by Moore (1992). Some authorities have recognized this taxon as the variety arkanensis (Ashe) G. E. Tucker of the Allegheny chinquapin Castanea pumila (L.) Mill., but recent molecular evidence indicates that ...
How high do chinquapin trees grow?
Within a decade, the Ozark hills were littered with the dead, rot-resistant carcasses of Ozark chinquapin trees that reached up to 65 feet high. Today, the chinquapin survives mostly as root suckers that re-sprout after the above-ground portion of the tree is killed, and therefore very few seeds are produced to re-populate the species.
What animals eat nuts on the hilltop?
Up on the hilltop the nuts were so plentiful that we scooped them up with flat blade shovels and loaded them into the wagons to be used as livestock feed, to eat for ourselves, and to sell. Deer, bears, turkeys, squirrels, and a variety of other wildlife fattened up on the sweet crop of nuts that fell every year.
When do chinquapins bloom?
They produced prolific nut crops that both humans and wildlife found delicious. It bloomed in late May to early June after the threat of frost had passed. Seeds drop from September to the end of October.
Who is the founder of the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation?
The Ozark Chinquapin Foundation was founded in 2007 by a Missouri man named Steve Bost who had a vision of restoring the native tree to back to southern forests and woodlands.
Is chinquapin a clade?
Indeed, all three North American species form a distinct clade, with Ozark chinquapin as the basal lineage, sister to the group consisting of Allegheny chinquapin and American chestnut (Dane et al. 2003). The Ozark Chinquapin is more genetically diverse than any other North American chestnut species. The blight spread throughout the natural range ...
Is a chinquapin a chestnut?
The Ozark Chinquapin is more genetically diverse than any other North American chestnut species. The blight spread throughout the natural range of the American chestnut, and eventually reached the Ozarks in the 1960’s.
Where is the Chinkapin tree?
Chinkapin or chinquapin is a small tree found throughout the southeastern United States. It has one nut in a burr that opens into two halves which gives the tree a distinctive chestnut look.
How many halves does a chinkapin tree have?
It has one nut in a burr that opens into two halves which gives the tree a distinctive chestnut look. Botanists have now condensed the tree's grouping of taxa to a single tree, Castanea pumila var. pumila and now consider that the chinkapin is one species comprising two botanical varieties: vars. ozarkensis and pumila.
How big is a chinkapin burs?
The burs of chinkapin are normally no more than 1.4 to 4.6 cm in diameter and will split into two sections at nut maturity.
What is a little chinkapin?
The Special Little Chinkapin Nut. The chinkapin's fruit is an interesting small, bur covered nut. The bur has sharp spines, 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Often the burs form in clusters on stems but each bur contains a single, shiny brown chestnut-like nut. Nuts are edible and quite sweet when mature in the fall.
How tall is Castanea pumila?
dar_st / Getty Images. Castanea pumila var. pumila can be characterized as a large, spreading, smooth-barked multistemmed shrub, 10 to 15 feet tall, or as a small tree occasionally single stemmed and 30 to 50 feet tall.
When to harvest chinkapin nuts?
Chinkapin Nut Harvest. Timothy Messick / Getty Images. The Allegheny chinkapin is normally ready for harvesting in early September in the upper tree hardiness zones and later in the lower portion of the tree's natural range. These nuts need to be harvested as soon as they mature.
Can Allegheny Chinkapin trees be cankered?
The Allegheny chinkapin seems to be somewhat resistant to the American chestnut blight which is a fungal disease caused by Cryphonectria parasitica. Only a few heavily cankered trees have been found in Georgia and Louisiana.
Edible Parts and Other Uses
Cautions
- The nuts of the chinquapin are perfectly safe to consume. However like many foods, they should be eaten in moderation. The only lookalikes for the chinquapin, are the sweet chestnut and horse chestnut trees, both having spiny burrs. The chestnut is also perfectly edible, however, the horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) is toxic. They can usually be identified by the shape and col…
Foraging
- The tree reaches fruiting maturity at around 4 years old, so don’t be surprised if you encounter a few young trees which don’t seem to hold any fruits. The chinquapin fruits begin to ripen in the fall, splitting open to reveal the nut within. Small mammals and birds are also particularly fond of the nuts, so you will need to time your foraging adventure correctly to get the best yield! Any nut…
Did You Know…
- Chinquapins can also be found on the west coast, from southern California, up to Washington. Inhabiting similar mountainous slopes two species of chinquapins from a different genus can be found here, the golden chinquapin (Chrysolepis chrysophylla) and also the bush chinquapin (Chrysolepis sempervirens).
Conclusion
- A tree that has somewhat faded into history, but is slowly re-emerging onto the radar as a nutritious wild food. For those wishing to have a supply of nuts closer to home, a chinquapin is a great option to grow at home in a smaller garden due to its smaller size. Their small population numbers were caused by the spread of chestnut blight, killing o...