Castanea pumila

A native chestnut kin with sweet, woodland fruit and the enduring spirit of a tree that remembers.

Castanea pumila, known as the American Chinquapin or Allegheny Chinkapin, is a deciduous, large shrub or small tree native to the Eastern and Southeastern United States. Long admired by rural foragers and old-time orchardists, this relatively rare native species once flourished across the South, where children filled their pockets with its spiny burrs and sweet, nutty treasure.

Resembling its better-known cousin, the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata), C. pumila bears elongated, serrated, oval leaves, and in late summer to fall, it produces small, edible nuts—about the size of a hazelnut—each wrapped in a prickly burr that opens when ripe. The nuts are rich, sweet, and highly prized, eaten raw, roasted, or used in traditional recipes from a time when the forest fed the family.

What sets American Chinquapin apart is its blight resistance. While not immune to the devastating chestnut blight that decimated the American Chestnut in the early 20th century, C. pumila is notably more resilient, often surviving and regenerating due to its multi-stemmed, shrubby growth habit. In the right setting, it may even reach small-tree stature, especially when planted in well-drained, sandy to loamy soils in sun to partial shade.

Now scattered and increasingly uncommon in the wild, this native nut-bearing plant is both a botanical treasure and a restoration opportunity—an ideal choice for edible landscapes, native plant gardens, woodland edges, and wildlife plantings.

Photo courtesy of Carolyn Fannon

Native Range: Eastern and Southeastern United States
Height & Spread: 6–20 ft tall; multi-stemmed, sometimes tree-like
Light Requirements: Full sun to part shade
Soil Preference: Well-drained, sandy or loamy soils; acidic preferred
Foliage: Deciduous; oval, toothed leaves with a soft undersurface
Nut Production: Small, sweet edible nuts in spiny burrs; ripens in fall
Notable Traits: Edible native nut, wildlife-friendly, somewhat blight-resistant, multi-stemmed form
Garden Uses: Edible landscaping, wildlife gardens, native restoration, woodland borders