The name is cited twice in the King James Version of the Bible. Still others take the name as coming from the Greek name of Sardis glans (Sardis acorn) – Sardis being the capital of Lydia, Asia Minor, from where the fruit had spread. They grow so abundantly there that their presence would have determined the place's name. Kastania is located on one of the relatively few sedimentary or siliceous outcrops. In the Mediterranean climate zone, chestnut trees are rarer in Greece because the chalky soil is not conducive to the tree's growth. The town probably took its name, though, from the trees growing around it. A possible source of the Greek word is the ancient town of Kastanea in Thessaly. The French word in turn derives from Latin Castanea (also the scientific name of the tree), which traces to the Ancient Greek word κάστανον (sweet chestnut). The name "chestnut" is derived from an earlier English term "chesten nut", which descends from the Old French word chastain (Modern French, châtaigne). Parts of Southern Europe, the Caucasus, Western Asia and Asia MinorĮtymology Female chestnut flowers Male chestnut flowers Sweet chestnut also called "Spanish chestnut" in the US and the UK Southeastern and Midwestern United StatesĬhinese chinkapin, also called Henry's chestnut SubgenusĪmerican or Allegheny chinkapin, also known as "dwarf chestnut" There is also another chestnut, Castanea alabamensis, which may be its own species. pumila), which are sometimes considered to be the same species. The taxonomy of the American chestnuts is not completely resolved, particularly between the chinkapins ( C. The four main species groups are commonly known as American, European, Chinese, and Japanese chestnuts. Other species commonly mistaken for chestnut trees are the chestnut oak ( Quercus prinus) and the American beech ( Fagus grandifolia), both of which are also in the Fagaceae family.īrazil nuts, called "Brasil chestnuts" ( castañas de Brasil in Spanish) or "chestnuts from Pará" ( castanha-do-Pará in Portuguese) are also unrelated.Ĭhestnuts belong to the family Fagaceae, which also includes oaks and beeches. True chestnuts should also not be confused with water chestnuts, which are tubers of an aquatic herbaceous plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae. The unrelated horse chestnuts (genus Aesculus) are not true chestnuts, but are named for producing nuts of similar appearance that are mildly poisonous to humans. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus Castanea, in the beech family Fagaceae. For other uses of "Castanea", see Castanea (disambiguation). For other uses of "chinquapin" or "chinkapin", see Chinquapin (disambiguation). For other uses of "chestnut", see Chestnut (disambiguation).
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