36in x 24in

For my final project I did a watercolor and color pencil painting of the leaf and fruit of the American chestnut tree. After receiving a horse chestnut seed from a friend I began to do research on how to properly grow it. I came upon a documentary about the American Chestnut and was inspired. Thought the American Chestnut and the Horse chestnut are not related, I was moved by the story of the American Chestnut, which is native to eastern North America. The American chestnut is currently critically endangered and vulnerable to a fungal disease introduced to American from japan. It the first half of the 20th century upwards of 4 billion American Chestnut trees fell victim to chestnut blight. Before the blight, the chestnut was one of the largest and most plentiful trees in North America, and were once regarded as “the redwoods of the east”. Most of the remaining trees are located on research farms. Scientists are desperately searching for a way to genetically engineer a stronger disease resistant variant of the tree. The American chestnut has potential to help put a dent in climate change because American chestnuts grow much faster and larger than other hardwood species, allowing them to sequester more carbon than other trees over the same period”(purdue university)

Map courtesy of The American Chestnut
Foundation www.acf.org