← chestnut
rights unknown
Colossal
Castanea sativa × C. crenata
The record
- Parentage
- Castanea sativa × C. crenata
- Origin
- Nevada City, California · planted c. 1888–1890; introduced commercially 1925
- Rights
- rights unknown — No patent, certificate, or trademark found in the sources consulted.
- Hardiness
- Cold hardy to −20 °F (−29 °C)
- Pollination
- Needs a pollinizer; ‘Nevada’ is the standard choice, with ‘Okei’ also used
Description
The commercial standard of the California chestnut industry, and probably an accident. The original tree and its pollinizer were planted around 1888–1890 by Benjamin Tonella at Nevada City, California, and it is thought to be a seedling of one of Felix Gillet’s French C. sativa selections pollinated by a Japanese C. crenata tree nearby. It was introduced commercially in 1925.
It does not set a crop alone. Plan the pollinizer at the same time as the block, not after.
Where to find it
- Raintree Nursery listed as Colossal Chestnut