How to Manage and Identify Chinkapin

Chinkapin or chinquapin is a small tree found throughout the eastern south. It has one nut a bur that opens into two halves. Many botanists have reduced a gouping of taxa to their essence, Castanea pumila var. pumila and indicate that the chinkapin is but a single species, C. pumila, comprising two botanical varieties: vars. ozarkensis and pumila.

The Allegheny chinkapin, also called common chinkapin, may well be our most ignored and undervalued native North American nut tree. It has been widely hailed as a sweet and edible nut and has value to it's cousin, the American chestnut's breeding programs.

Scientific name: Castanea pumila
Pronunciation: cast-ah-neigha pum-ill-ah
Common name(s): Allegheny chinkapin, common chinquapin, American chinkapin
Family: Fagaceae
USDA hardiness zones: USDA hardiness zones: USDA hardiness zones: 5b through 9A
Origin: native to North America

The chinkapin has a small, bur covered nut. The bur has sharp spines, 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Often the burs occur in clusters on stems but each bur contains a single, shiny brown chestnut-like nut. Nuts are edible and quite sweet when mature in the fall.

A horticulturist once remarked, "the Allegheny chinkapin makes your mouth water but to see it makes your eyes water". Other experts suggest that the tree is "well worthy of cultivation as an ornamental shade tree, even if we leave out of the account its rapid growth, productiveness, and delicious little nuts, which will be very acceptable for home use."

Castanea pumila var. pumila can be characterized as a large, spreading, smooth barked multistemmed shrub, 10 to 15 feet tall, occasionally single stemmed and 30 to 50 feet tall. Large trees are sometimes found, especially under human intervention when some of the competing trees have been removed.

Leaf arrangement: alternate
Leaf type: simple
Leaf margin: toothed
Leaf shape: elliptical; oblong
Leaf venation: parallel side veins
Leaf type and persistence: deciduous
Leaf blade length: 3 to 6 inches
Leaf color: green
Fall color: yellow

The Allegheny chinkapin is normally ready for harvesting in early September (upper tree hardiness zones). Nuts must be promptly collected before wildlife remove the entire crop.

One single brown nut is contained in each spiny green bur. The burs of chinkapin are normally no more than 1.4 to 4.6 cm in diameter and split into at nut maturity.

Chinkapins are susceptible to Phytophthora cinnamomi root rot. The Allegheny chinkapin is reported to be rather resistant to the chestnut blight fungus caused by Cryphonectria (Endothia) parasitica however, diseased and heavily cankered trees have been found in Georgia and Louisiana. Chinkapins blight to some degree, but they continue to sucker and send up shoots from the root collar and, despite cankering, produce fruit.

Legend has it that Captain John Smith recorded the first European record of the chinquapin in 1612. Cpt. Smith writes, "The indians have a small fruit growing on little trees, husked like a chestnut, but the fruit most like a very small acorne. This they call Checkinquamins, which they esteem a great daintie."

Allegheny chinkapins are prolific producers of sweet, nutty flavored, small chestnuts. They have attractive foliage and flowers, although the odor at blossoming time is considered unpleasant.

The great drawback of Allegheny chinkapin is its small nut size and the added disadvantage that many nuts stick fast in the bur at harvest and have to be removed by force. Because the nuts are small, difficult to harvest, and germinate at harvest time, chinkapins have limited potential as a commercial crop. However, their small tree size, precocity, and heavy production may be useful characteristics to breed into the commercial chestnut species.

The chinkapin is adapted to a wide range of soils and site conditions and should be considered for its wildlife value. The nuts are eaten by a number of small mammals such as squirrels, rabbits, deermice, and chipmunks By cutting the stem at the ground surface, dense thickets can be established within a few years to provide food and cover for wildlife, especially grouse, bobwhite, and wild turkey.