CASTANEA sativa

Spanish chestnut is a large and handsome tree that can get 100' tall with a crown spread about half its height. Really old trees may have a trunk diameter in excess of 10'. The oblong-elliptic leaves have coarse marginal teeth and prominent veins. The flowers are in showy spikelike creamy yellow catkins. The fruit is a prickly burr enclosing 1-5 nuts. There are numerous cultivars selected for nut quality and adaptation to different regions and growing conditions. The finest cultivars yield a burr with a single large, sweet nut, called a marron in French. Cultivars selected for ornamental use include 'Albomarginata' with white-margined leaves, and 'Aspleniifolia' with deeply dissected, featherlike leaves.