Chestnut, Sweet (Castanea Sativa)

Sweet chestnut ( Castanea sativa ). The eating or spanish chestnut is a majestic dome shaped deciduous tree that produces pale yellow catkins in July and chestnuts by an open fire in November. The Sweet Chestnut is an excellent parkland or woodland specimen. It is also often coppiced - chestnut wood is almost rot proof so it makes excellent fencing. Sweet chestnuts grow and crop increasingly well in Britain. Eating chestnuts are not native to these shores - the first chestnut trees arrived at the time of the Armadat. Its Spanish origins are evident in its Latin name - Castanea has the same root as Castanet, but global warming has made our climate much more to the chestnut's liking. Plant in a well-drained site, but not good on chalk. To 25m.