BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Castanea pumila | Allegheny Chinkapin 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Allegheny chinkapin is a native, deciduous, rhizomatous large shrub or
small tree [8].  Mature heights range from 6 to 65 feet (2-20 m)
[4,7,8,32,35].  The bark of trunks is smooth with shallow furrows [35].
The stems of young shoots are pubescent to densely tomentose.  The
flowers are axillary catkins [8].  The involucre is a spiny bur 1 to 1.4
inches (2.5-3.5 cm) long, containing a nut which is 0.28 to 0.8 inch
(7-20 mm) long [28].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Allegheny chinkapin reproduces readily from seed.  It is monoecious,
self-incompatible, and wind pollinated [8,10].  Allegheny chinkapin
cultivar 'golden' seedlings may produce nuts as early as the second or
third growing season.  Nut crops are not large until the fourth or fifth
year.  Six-year-old plants produced 1,200 to 1,500 nuts per plant.
Seeds planted in the fall show good germination (> 90%); seeds stored
over the winter tend to dry out and germinate at much reduced rates
(< 50%) [9].

Allegheny chinkapin sprouts vigorously from the stump after top-kill
[28].  It spreads from the rhizomes, forming thickets or colonies [8].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Allgeheny chinkapin occurs in xeric to mesic, thin or open mixed woods
on dry, rocky, sandy, or loamy soils [4].  It is typically found on
well-drained stream terraces, dry pinelands and sandhills, and disturbed
sites such as railroad rights-of-way, powerline clearings, fence and
hedgerows, pine plantations, and old fields [4,8,10,35].  Ozark
chinkapin is typically found on dry uplands in deciduous or mixed
woodlands, but also on cliff margins, talus slopes, and rocky ridges.
Allegheny chinkapin grows well on almost all soil textures except heavy
clay soils [9].

Allegheny chinkapin ranges in elevation from sea level to about 4,455
(1350 m) in the southern Appalachians [4].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Allegheny chinkapin is not highly shade tolerant, and occurs in open
woods and disturbed areas [8].  It is not competitive where overstory
trees begin to form a closed canopy; it is easily replaced by more
shade-tolerant species [10].  In Florida, it is a member of the
mid-successional pine (Pinus spp.)-oak (Quercus spp.)-hickory (Carya
spp.) type.  It is also a member of communities that remain seral
because of disturbances such as fire [15].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Allegheny chinkapin flowers from April to July, depending on latitude
[4].  The ripened nuts are available from September through November [31].

Related categories for Species: Castanea pumila | Allegheny Chinkapin