Rare American Chestnut trees in Freeport nominated as Illinois state champions
“It looks like the Natural Land Institute’s Legacy Tree Program has found yet another Illinois state champion tree: a rare American chestnut (Castanea dentata) in Freeport,” said Alan Branhagen, executive director. “Actually, the exciting news is that there are two growing side by side! Because of the rarity of this species and its great conservation concern, we are featuring both of them as the July Trees of the Month. One is larger than the other and we will submit it to the Illinois Big Tree Register and expect it to become the new state champion.”
Located in the front yard of a private residence, the bigger tree is about 73 feet tall, with an average crown spread of over 41 feet and a trunk circumference of 135 inches. Nominated by Sharon Welton, executive director, Stephenson County Historical Society Museum and Arboretum.
Once upon a time, American chestnut was the most magnificent tree in Eastern North America. Eastern white pines and tulip trees grew taller and sycamores perhaps larger but otherwise these were the king of the forest in Appalachia and westward to the southern tip of Illinois.
They were valued for lumber and food – the chestnuts are rich in carbohydrates and have a potato like flavor when roasted. (Now they are easily microwaved – but be sure and score the nut’s shell so they don’t explode).
The trees were premier for wildlife with midsummer blossoms that cover the tree in creamy sparklers of flowers visited by an abundance of pollinators. The nut crop produced in the fall was a mast like no other and devoured by everything from humans to bears and the now extinct Passenger Pigeon. The tree was also host to many species of insects – several moths specialized on the plant.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire… or so the song goes – yes, these chestnuts are the edible kind and not the toxic “horse” chestnut’s “conkers” or buckeyes.
The reign of the American chestnut over eastern forests all changed in almost an instant when logs of Japanese chestnut trees, infested with a blight, were brought to New Jersey in 1902. The blight quickly spread to neighboring chestnut trees and killed all the above ground portions of the tree with its cankers. Soon the blight spread through all wild stands of the trees and the species became functionally extinct – stump sprouts persisted but rarely long enough to produce any viable nuts. Related oaks and beech quickly filled the void but some of the specialist moths have not been seen since. It was an economic and ecologic catastrophe.
American chestnuts were planted by colonists beyond their wild range and these isolated trees found protection from the blight in their isolated quarantine. Two such trees were planted in front of a home on Walnut Avenue in Freeport and persist to this day. Many of the isolated trees were singletons, and as the tree is not self-fertile (it cannot pollinate itself), no nuts are produced.
Luckily the two Freeport trees are able to cross-pollinate each other and produce some viable nuts. Seedlings of these trees can be found in the Taylor Arboretum at the Stephenson County Historical Society.
The American Chestnut Foundation was formed to protect the tree from extinction and is breeding blight resistant trees. Mother nature has also recently come to the rescue with a hypovirus that is infecting the blight’s cankers and keeping them in remission.
One day again, may the American chestnut return to its place in the rich forest of Eastern North America. Survivor trees like these will play an important role in the recovery.
Branhagen said, “We are grateful to Sharon Welton from the Stephenson County Historical Society for sharing these trees with NLI. Thank you to the trees’ owner for understanding their important conservation value. NLI hired Tree Care Enterprises to assess the trees after recent storm damage and to complete corrective pruning so the trees may flourish into the future.”
The Natural Land Institute launched the Legacy Tree Program in January 2024. It includes recognition of one tree a month that may be the largest of its kind, or have historical or cultural significance. Anyone may nominate a tree on private or public land from its 12-county region: Boone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, Henry, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Rock Island, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago. Other components of the program, a list of the 12 counties, the online nomination form, and the tree of the month since January 2024 can be found at www.naturalland.org/nlis-legacy-tree-program-january/, call (815) 964-6666 or email info@naturalland.org.
The Natural Land Institute, an accredited land trust, is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit land conservation organization based in Rockford, Illinois and has protected nearly 19,000 acres of natural land in Illinois since 1958. Its mission is to create an enduring legacy of natural land in northern Illinois for people, plants and animals. For more information and to donate, visit www.NaturalLand.org or call (815) 964-6666.