Tumwater’s Tree Board endorsed to the city council the nomination of two chestnut trees at Mills & Mills Funeral Home as heritage trees during a meeting on Monday, December 12.
The two trees can be found west of the funeral building, located at 5725 Littlerock Road.
Non-profit American Forests recognized the two trees as part of the “champion trees registry,” a list of the largest native tree specimens in the country.
In this case, the two trees are co-champions of the American chestnut (Castanea dentata) species, measuring approximately 100 and 115 inches, according to an assessment conducted by Sound Urban Forestry. In terms of girth, both trees measure 79 inches in diameter at breast height.
A plaque on the site states that the two trees were planted in 1846, making them 176 years old.
4 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
garyaritchie
One wonders how these trees survived the chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica), which has wiped out virtually every American chestnut treea in North America. If they contain some sort of genetic resistance to the disease, this could be very valuable information.
Friday, December 16, 2022 Report this
RondaLarsonKramer
@garyaritchie: Trees in this part of the country survived the chestnut blight simply because they are not near other chestnuts. The blight isn’t able to spread to them since the species isn’t native or common on the west coast.
Friday, December 16, 2022 Report this
FirstOtter
One of the trees...the one on the left in the above picture, has not been doing so well. I talked to an arborist about it a few years ago and was told they planned on giving it more nitrogen.
At one time, chestnuts spread from the east coast to the midwest. They were the dominant species of nut tree. They depended on a species of bird called the passenger pigeon.
I'm originally from Michigan. There's a city named Pigeon, named after the billions of passenger pigeons that passed over the state in clouds that took days to pass.
People reported that the droppings from the pigeons was so thick it was 'like snow'. And, of course, it was probably stinky.
The passenger pigeon and the chestnut tree needed each other. The passenger pigeon devoured the chestnuts...and of course, excreted. Those enormous amounts of guano fed the trees. When humans exterminated the pigeons, the chestnuts began to suffer from a lack of nutrients. I don't know if the effects of nutrient starvation helped the chestnut blight destroy the American chestnut, but I bet it was an important factor.
Now you can find chestnut trees desperately trying to grow in some areas of Michigan, but once they reach a certain age...a few years? The damned blight kills them.
I hope that the Dept of Ecology or whomever is caring for the magnificent trees at the Mills Cemetary is keeping track of the trees. I've tried to collect the seeds but I'm sure that the groundskeepers think of the seeds as nuisances and vacuum them up. The seeds are enclosed in a husk that is prickly, almost like a vegetable porcupine.
Sometime ago I learned of a project in the east where 'they' were crossing American chestnuts with Chinese chestnuts (that are immune to the phytophora blight, aka chestnut blight) and that someday they would have saplings for sale.
I've not heard of anything since. I believe it's because SOME people complained that if it's not a 100% pure American Chestnut then it's not a chestnut tree. I think this is such a stupid idea..to stand on an ideology rather than plant a tree that is magnificent, produces excellent nuts and deserves a chance. These types would rather an entire species of tree go extinct because of their misguided opinions.
Friday, December 16, 2022 Report this
HarveysMom
Wonderful discussion, thank you all!
P.S. JOLT deserves another donation for making this community discussion available!
Saturday, December 17, 2022 Report this