Chinese Chestnut

Erika and I encountered a row of strange (to us) trees along a boulevard next to Capitol Lake in Olympia on 15 October 2020. Large, spiny fruits littered the ground around the trees. We figure the the trees are Chinese Chestnut (Castanea mollissima). They are native to China and Korea, but are planted extensively in the United States. Why wouldn’t Olympia plant native trees, we wondered. Well, they replace native American Chestnuts that were decimated by Chestnut Blight—although I doubt American Chestnuts grew in Washington. In any event, these trees grow well with minimum maintenance. Their fruit is “delicious and low fat” and can be eaten raw, roasted, or baked (fastgrowingtrees.com). The chestnuts you buy from street vendors or specialty stores are usually Spanish Chestnuts (Castanea sativa). On the other hand, the fallen fruit burs are spiny and “pose a significant litter problem, and often make walking barefoot in the lawn a real adventure.” (Missouri Botanical Garden).