Mountain State Chestnuts

 Tree K x R3T2-A is the result of a controlled cross in 2000 between Chinese and American trees.  You might think that the 'K' refers to a Korean chestnut, but it refers to a grove of Chinese chestnuts that I gave the 'K' designation to signify the trees were growing on the 'Kines' farm.  These Chinese trees are a second generation grown from Chinese trees my Grandfather planted in 1960.  They were distributed by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture as possible replacements for the American chestnut.  The American parent, R3T2 (row 3, tree #2) was located in Barbour county, WV.  It was transplanted as a small sprout from a woodlot into an orchard.  Once established it exhibited good form and vigor.  It lived long enough to produce pollen for a few seasons before succumbing to a phytophthora infection. The letter 'A' is simply to help identify the tree from other identical crosses.  I have 4 trees that are K x R3T2, and their names end with an A,B,C or D.  I may at some time give the trees actual names.

 

K x R3T2-A has shown the most vigor and best form of the 4 trees at this point.  It has an upright growth patern, as opposed to the spreading form seen in the Chinese parent.  The blight resistance is intermediate between the Chinese and American parents, but is thriving (at the moment) with hypovirulent strains of blight.  

 

Nut production is not heavy yet, as most of the tree's resources are still devoted to vegetative growth.  The nuts are large for a first generation hybrid, with an attractive appearance and good flavor.