Kevin Parris identified this stump cluster of American chestnut saplings four years ago when he came to look at Windmill Hill. We cut all but two back to the ground to allow one of them to take the lead. This spring I noticed that it has some catkins/blooms on it for the first time. I SO hope it will not die of the blight as almost all of the American chestnuts in this country have. The tree is in the "little woods" between Amelia's house and ours. I tried to get a good shot of the catkins in my photograph, but they aren't very prominent.
I will send the leaves to the American Chestnut Foundation this week to confirm the identification. Now that it is old enough to produce nuts, we may be able to help out in the research and development of a resistent American chestnut without any input from Chinese or other chestnut strains.
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