Carpentar sent budwood to Dr. Robert T. Dunstan, a fellow member of NNGA and well-known plant breeder in Greensboro, N.C. Dunstan grafted the scions onto chestnut rootstock and the trees grew well. He cross-pollinated one with superior USDA released Chinese chestnut selections, to provide blight resistance.

THE DUNSTAN CHESTNUT

Castanea dentata X mollissima

In 1962, Dr. Dunstan selected the individual with the most hybrid characteristics, and crossed it back to the American and Chinese parent trees. The resulting second generation was moved to Alachua in north central Florida, where the trees have been growing and bearing every year for almost 50 years!

In 1984 we planted a grove of 500 Dunstan trees, and many are now over 50' tall and 12-16" in diameter. These trees show a combination of American and Chinese traits. They are healthy, vigorous, and bear heavily every year. We have chosen several cultivars that have the very best combination of nut and tree characteristics. The Dunstan Chestnuts are the first chestnuts to ever receive U.S. Plant Patents.


The blight-resistant (not immune) Dunstan Chestnuts make possible the re-establishment of chestnut trees and the original native forest in America!

Dunstan Chestnuts have been tested for resistance by inoculation with blight. No significant canker formation was observed for 4 years. Limited growth of the blight cankers was seen on only a few trees and in most cases, the inoculation wound healed completely.

OUR NUTS ARE BIGGER!

Dunstan Chestnuts produce heavy yearly crops of very large and sweet-tasting nuts. The nuts average 15-35 nuts/lb, as compared to Chinese nuts (35-100/lb) and American nuts (75-150/lb). The nuts ripen in September and October, and most fall free from the burrs for easy harvesting.

Dunstan Chestnuts grow rapidly and have an upright growth form, with spreading branches, similar to the American chestnut and unlike the smaller, more spreading Chinese form. These trees are long-lived, can grow up to 100' tall, and have timber value at maturity comparable to walnuts. Chestnuts are excellent for reforestation.