This beautiful plant is undoubtedly an adornment of our planet. The chestnut tree belongs to the beech family. Scientists suggest that it existed in the Tertiary period. In the past, its distribution area was much larger than today: it grew in Asia Minor, on Sakhalin and the Caucasus, in Greenland and North America, on the shores of the Mediterranean. The birthplace of the chestnut is considered to be Asia Minor and the Caucasus.
Impressive beauty
Modern chestnut tree is about 2 meters in diameter and grows up to 35 meters in height. There are exceptions, for example, in Sicily, the "Chestnut of a Hundred Horsemen" of gigantic size grew, it was almost 20 meters in diameter. The leaves of the tree are quite large - up to 25 cm long, 8 cm wide. On the shoots, they are spirally arranged. The color of the leaves changes with the seasons. In spring they are brown-red, in summer they turn green, in autumn they become golden yellow. In adult trees, the crown begins at a height of at least 7 meters,the lower branches fall off. After the leaves bloom, the plant immediately begins to bloom.
Fruits are the main we alth
People in ancient times realized that the chestnut tree can be used for their own purposes. Its nuts in some areas of the planet where it is impossible to grow cereals, were the main component of people's food. Fruit flour by availability
nutrients exceed wheat, and by mixing them, it was possible to greatly improve the taste and quality of bread. The nuts themselves were also eaten - they were boiled, fried, dried.
In the service of man
The chestnut tree is widely used today. Its fruits are used not only in the food industry, but also in medicine, and magnificent furniture is made from wood. Chestnut is an excellent honey plant, one adult tree can produce up to 20 kilograms of honey. Wood is also used in construction, and natural dyes are obtained from the bark and leaves. But the main we alth of the chestnut is its fruits. The annual world production of nuts reaches one and a half million tons.
Distant cousin
The right to be called a real chestnut, or noble chestnut, has the right only to the sowing chestnut (Castanea sativa). But he has a relative who is popular
significantly inferior to his brother, but well known in Russia. This is an ordinary chestnut, in our country called horse. In these two species, only the fruits are similar, but the leaves and flowers are completely different. They even refer toto different families. The real one belongs to the beech, and the horse belongs to the horse chestnut.
Tree - traveler from the Balkans
More recently, horse chestnuts were rarely found in central Russia. And although the city of Kyiv was already all decorated with these magnificent trees, in the territories north of the capital of Ukraine he was considered a heat-loving guest performer. Today, chestnut, the cultivation of which has become commonplace in our country, is considered native in many Russian cities. And few people remember that its real homeland is the forests of the Balkan Mountains. In Europe, horse chestnut has long been revered as an outstanding tree that can decorate any park. An impressive stocky trunk, grayish-white bark and large seven-fingered leaves give it a special charm.
