How would you know it’s American Chestnut and not a sweet or Japanese variant?

If true, you should share it with the foundation that catalogs them.

It's okay, it's very unlikely that it's not a hybrid.

See my other more recent comment for more details. It's old. I'm not so sure it has resistance other than it was likely a strong adult when the blight came, and the blight had an easier time killing trees that were not so massive.

Before I made last comment I tried to wrap a measuring tape around but it was only a 36 inch measuring tape and circumference of the two halves coming out of the base are at least another 6 inches after it. Height is harder to measure, maybe 30-40ft, it grows at the edge of the forest with multiflora rosebush around it, some hickory and tulip trees over it in height. Some branches have been cut off over the years and the bark is kinda gnarly.

Everytime I walk around here there's some new discovery of something new or old. Today I fished a live rusty female crawfish out of the pool and I'm pretty sure it's one of the first sightings of this invasive in this county. Nothing like looking down and going 'Oh I guess we have pool lobsters now'.

There's over 850 species of figs and many of them are edible. It's quite possible y'all are talking about different plants

But, then again, the common fig also has many many cultivars with different growth habits and fruits

It may be a different variety.

My neighbors have had theirs in 3 years, and I think they bought...1 year old trees? I can't recall now.

Anyhow, they are about four feet tall right now, and max height is 10-15 feet (4.5m).

These are not GMO plants—just selectively bred plants. This is similar to almost all domestic animals and most plants.

To play devil's advocate to myself and possibly answer my own question: I imagine there are ecological effects of GMO (some of your corn SHOULD get killed by insects). Not to mention the fact that GMO seeds are probably mostly sold by god-awful Monsanto.

Yoink that back.

That's the genetic engineering approach, but the Chinese ones have a different, more complex, less well understood, and potentially complementary resistance mechanism.

That's very interesting. The video I linked showed that blight resistant trees had a very specific response to grow extra tissue around the infection site to stop it from spreading further so I assumed it was more of a multi-pronged defense

They're famous for lots of bullshit they didn't actually do. It's part of the demonization process.

In this case, Monsanto never sold "terminator" seeds. They (and many others) sold hybrid seeds, which don't breed true, and so are functionally equivalent to that. Hybrid seeds have been around since the 1930s, if not earlier.

In any case, they can get the same effect by contract. You were not allowed to replant Roundup Ready soybeans, and they sued (and won against) farmers who broke the contract to do that.

Indeed, part of the work being done by the team working on the genetic engineering approach is breeding Darling 58 with the Chinese backcrossed version.

Terroir is the term for this. It's variation in flavour isn't as great as varietal/strain based differences. But yes it does have some impact most commonly taken advantage of in wine production.

Fresh they taste almost like sweet corn, I got to try a few American chestnuts last year, they are sweeter (but smaller) than the chinese chestnuts. My landlord boils the chinese one and eats them like mashed potatos, I roast them in oven or air fry them. To me they are like bread from the trees.

The English ones are starchy I guess? These are common to see in grocery stores when in season.

Also handling changes how sweet they get, some say they must be chilled in fridge for some days to get starches to convert to sugar. For me the Americans are perfect no matter the treatment. Chinese chestnuts I'm fighting getting to them fast enough before any mold grows, processing them immediately to kill chestnut weevil (I use a sous vide and let them sit at whatever temp the rutgers publication suggested to kill potential eggs) then I dry and fridge them for a few days before putting them in oven/airfryer. It sounds like a pain in the ass but it's a lot easier and less foul than the year I gathered and processed gingko seeds (which smells like dogshit) or even black walnuts which will stain your hands for over a week if you don't know to wear gloves.

Another protip: Don't plant a chestnut tree near a swimming pool. Those spines are sharp enough to pop a bicycle tire and the catkins smell like a callery pear when it's dumping pollen which is pretty gross.

Dude I have just the recipe for you. Come on down to Chile and ask for puré de castañas. The really oppressed Chilean women make it the best, it's highly unique, I actually thought I could eat a chestnut because I used to eat this dish, kept biting into absolute bitterness. But bitter isn't bad, now that I'm addicted to something bitter (an undisclosed stimulant) I prefer bitterness to sweetness, but not everyone can be an addict, the addiction doesn't always take. Too bitter. Just like the American Chestnut didn't always take. Too bitter.

Love the bitterness. And in the dish there's a trace bitterness natural to the chestnut left in the puré, which involves sweetening chestnuts and also some I think crema Chantillí or leche condensada not sure which.

.

Let me add that in my unique Chileanized upbringing, as an American, a Chilean woman, in this unique case not oppressed, explained to me why I couldn't eat a cactus fruit, what's it called, tuna (no relation to fish in absolutely any way). So typically, she explained, gringos bite it wrong. They think you gotta bite it till your jaw closes, your teeth meet up again after that long goodbye when you put the fruit in your mouth. No, you gotta close your teeth less, not chew, no no, and she explained it to me in plain Spanish in a way I, a Chileanized American, a gringo, a gringuito (and in fact there was a movie about a Chileanized American called El Gringuito in the late 90's in Chile, huge hit), how to eat the native fruit. But I was a kid. This partial chewing made it good to eat, I can vouch. They would never tell you to only chew partially of politeness. But I can. I'm passing that on, to eat tuna fruit, work on your bite, don't bite all the way, like almost. Because it has a lot of seeds, very hard seeds, you see, so biting it all the way hurts, so you hate it.

Like bitterness. Great flavor, in fact.

just needs a little butter and salt

Hawkeye is what Red Delicious used to be. You can still find it grown by smaller orchards around the country.

Most modern apple cultivars have a lot more taste and flavour than red delicious

You would need to map the relevant loci and then use a speed congenic selection strategy. Done in mice easily. Mapping the loci modulating traits like disease resistance or taste is the hard part.

Or, you know, CRISPR.

Except the notion of patenting genes that infect natural seeds farmers must plant for next year's crop.

If the courts cannot see the distinction between farmers and plants violating patents, then the Congress may amend the law to oblige them to see it.