Castanea sativa, commonly known as the sweet chestnut or the Spanish chestnut, is a deciduous hardwood tree native to Southeastern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the temperate world.
Sweet chestnut trees are generally monoecious, bearing both male and female flowers on the same tree. The male flowers are large, 2.5–4 cm long, borne in 10–20 cm long catkins; the female flowers are much smaller, borne on 1–2 cm long catkins. The fruit is a spiny cupule 5–9 cm in diameter, containing two to three large nuts. The nuts develop during late summer and fall, and ripen 7–8 weeks after pollination. The sweet chestnut is a diploid species, with 22 chromosomes, and is self-incompatible. The tree reaches 20–35 m tall and 1 m trunk diameter when mature, on average. Large trees can attain 46 m height and 1.75 m diameter.
Specie: Castanea sativa
Common Names: Pitomi kesten
Family: Fagaceae
Sub Family: Fagoideae