Montgomery Parks recently shared the story of The Maryland Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation (MDACF) contacting Montgomery Parks’ urban forestry team with a unique request. They wanted to harvest flowers from high in the canopy of a single specific Chinese chestnut with the goal of extracting its pollen.
According to Montgomery Parks, “this specific tree has grown straight and tall, more closely resembling the form of the American chestnut which was decimated in the early 1900s by the invasive chestnut blight.
After acquiring a Scientific Research Permit, staff from Montgomery Parks arboriculture team assisted the member of the ACF to harvest the flowers at just the right time. Our skilled climber ascended to the top of the tree, where the flowers were basking in the morning sunlight 80 feet off the forest floor, pruning sections of branches that were most desirable.
Most Chinese chestnuts have a high level of resistance to the invasive chestnut blight. However, the Chinese variety is not well-adapted to American forests due to their relatively short stature and branchy growth habit.
The MDACF will use the pollen from this uniquely upright Chinese chestnut in the tree breeding program in hopes eventually developing a blight-resistant American chestnut tree, which would be an important step in preserving the future of the American chestnut which once grew in abundance.” Photos by Montgomery Parks
