by Glory Lennon

Created on: May 02, 2009

Castanea Sativa, otherwise known as the Portuguese, Sweet or Spanish Chestnut, is a lovely, dense growing deciduous shade tree native to southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. This long-lived tree is prized for the large, dark reddish brown nuts it produces in huge quantities. These are the nuts perfect for roasting over an open fire, immortalized by Nat King Cole's perennial Christmas ditty. The sweet flavored nuts of the Portuguese Chestnut are grown and commercially sold all over Europe and the United States.

Like other chestnuts, the Portuguese Chestnut needs ample space to grow to its considerable height of 100 feet with a spread usually exceeding 40 feet wide. For this reason the Portuguese Chestnut is not what might be called a city or street tree. They are obviously not suited for planting under utility wires. Also the pollen of the Portuguese Chestnut has a rather rank smell, not at all pleasant and would be considered a nuisance in crowded cities. Therefore it is more suited to the country life where the smell plus its considerable litter from pollen and dropped flowers will be camouflaged more readily with the presence of more trees, better air flow and the forest floor or the open meadow.

The foliage of the Portuguese Chestnut is dark green, oblong, 6-9 inched in length and about 3 inches wide with serrated edges. The flowers are tiny, insignificant, creamy white or a pale yellow formed on slender catkins 8-10 inches in length. These flower clusters make a nice show in late spring or early summer when the leaves first emerge. The bark is rather rough and a grayish brown and the trunk itself can get very wide, too wide for hugging anyway.

By late summer the tree will be covered with large, pale green, prickly burs which encase the growing nuts. These eventually turn brown when ripe and fall off the tree. Come the autumn the leaves turn an amber yellow. When the prickly balls containing the nuts do fall to the ground it's not advisable to walk barefoot under these trees.

The Portuguese Chestnut likes to grow in full sun but can take a bit of shade. It likes moisture but once established is somewhat drought tolerant. A rich loam soil will help it grow well and produce plenty of nuts but it certainly will not tolerate alkaline soil. When grown from seed the Portuguese Chestnut could take a good twenty years to produce a decent crop. The cultivars "Marron de Lyon" and "Paragon" when grafted onto already established trees or saplings can cut this number to five years.

Though the Portuguese Chestnut is hardy in Zones 4-8 its flowers are susceptible to getting nipped by early spring frosts and unexpected snow storms which could kill off the flowers and with them the prospect of nuts come autumn. Chestnuts produce well where two or more varieties are planted close by. Individual trees may still produce nuts but they may be rather sparse.

As trees go, the Portuguese Chestnut with its beautiful dense, wide-canopied form, lovely foliage, pretty spring time flower show and the plentiful crop of sweet tasting nuts is a great one for the home landscape if there's enough room for it.

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