The American chestnut (Castanea dentata) is a large, monoecious deciduous tree of the beech family native to eastern North America. The American chestnut was once considered one of the most important forest trees throughout its range and was considered the finest chestnut tree in the world. However, the species was devastated by chestnut blight, a fungal disease that came from introduced chestnut trees from East Asia. It is estimated that between 3 and 4 billion American chestnut trees were destroyed ...