The American Chestnut: An Environmental History

by Donald Edward Davis

University of Georgia Press, 2021 $32.95

Reviewed by Anuradha Prasad

Chestnuts have held a special place in the American landscape and cultural memory, so much so that they have trickled into the language (“an old chestnut” and “chestnutting”). They are part of Native American folklore and have even found a place in cookbooks featuring chestnut-themed menus. Talk about pride of place at the table!

And now this American icon gets its due in Donald Edward Davis’s The American Chestnut (U of Georgia Press). Davis is a scholar and author and works for the Harvard Forest. He is also the founding member of the Georgia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation. In this book, he attempts to not only track the rise and fall of the iconic American Chestnut but also to examine misconceptions related to its restoration attempts and why certain beliefs about the species may not be valid.

Davis explains where the trees were found and where they may thrive. Its movement across the continent depended on many variables from climatic conditions to a little help from friends, among them blue jays and passenger pigeons. He identifies the conditions of habitats that are necessary for chestnuts. While some may think the chestnut can be reestablished in a century, studying the past shows that it could take a millennium to not just reestablish the trees but also ensure that they survive and not fall prey to disease and extinction again.

As Davis charts the genesis of the American chestnut from 87 million years ago, he brings in everyone from the scientific community to traders and laypeople to support and share the story of the American chestnut (illustrations and photographs accompany these accounts).

The American chestnut once towered over the American way of life and its influence is still evident. Townships were named after it like Chestnut Neck in New Jersey. Its use was diverse and its role in history significant. Davis surmises that “chestnuts were more than just seasonal fare: they were agents of social stability, providing the food surpluses needed to develop new subsistence strategies, and eventually more complex systems of social organization” (31). It became intertwined with the cultural identity of Native Americans.

The American chestnut was also a habitat for wild animals and used as raw material in building structures and a lot more. A lot of timber went into chestnut-rail fences around properties including Thomas Jefferson’s at Monticello. In fact, chestnut worm-fences were a common characteristic of plantations.

Not surprisingly, the species influenced frontier economy. Even Henry David Thoreau championed chestnuts and Davis says was the “first to document the natural history of the American chestnut over its entire life cycle” (90).

Chestnut species were also imported from Europe, Turkey, and Japan, and, at times, favored over the native species. Eventually, it was importation that sounded the death knell for native species. A batch of imported Japanese chestnuts infected with chestnut blight wiped out a large chunk of homegrown chestnut trees. But even before the blight, the American chestnuts were in decline from ink disease, the Civil War, and unregulated use.

When the blight hit, attempts to save the species were too little too late. The American chestnut became functionally extinct, which means that the numbers are so few that the trees no longer play a significant role in the forest ecosystem.

Davis then highlights various efforts to bring back the species. Importation is helping resurrect the American chestnuts as the cross breed with Chinese chestnuts could make it more blight resistant. Biotechnology too has stepped in but has met opposition for it could cause more harm in the long term. Even if these attempts succeed, the question remains whether it will be the original American chestnut that will rise up or a mere shadow of them.

The American Chestnut covers the environmental history of the species, examining the relationship between humans and the trees. The American chestnut is no meek-mannered sweetheart but a force of nature; compressing its gargantuan life story into a compact and engaging narrative is no mean task. Davis has achieved in making it accessible, tackling with ease various aspects that influenced the species and that the species influenced—from history and economy and science to culture and environment—to offer a well-rounded account of this American legacy.

The story of the American chestnut could very well be a natural world fairy tale but without the certainty of a happily ever after, though one can certainly hope as a dedicated community tries to resurrect this mighty icon.

Anuradha Prasad is a writer and copyeditor living in Bangalore, India. Her poems and short stories have appeared in Sleet Magazine, Literally Stories, Borderless Journal, Bangalore Review, and Muse India. She is currently exploring her interest in nature, travel, and wildlife.