brucine (broo'-seen), 1) n. Pharm., Chem. a bitter, poisonous alkaloid, C23H26N2O4, obtained from the nux vomica tree; 2) n. Bruce Bortin's 'low-impact' weblog

Monday, June 04, 2007

Chestnut Blight


Chestnut Blight, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Lake Merritt, where Lakeshore meets 17th. A couple chestnut trees aren't looking so good.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Brucie,

We had a house that was completely panelled with chestnut wood - all cut from the surrounding property. It was built in 1907 - by the time we moved in all the chestnut trees were extinct, thanks to our friends in in that shithole called china.

At the end of April, President Bush marked Arbor Day by planting an American chestnut tree on the White House lawn. What makes this small piece of political theater significant is that the chestnut—a beautiful native tree which featured prominently in art and literature—was virtually wiped out by disease.

In 1900, chestnut trees spread from Maine to Mississippi. By 1950, some 99% of them had died of chestnut blight, a fungus introduced from China. A few isolated populations hung on, primarily in remote regions of the Appalachian Mountains.


We still have a lot of chestnut trees here in Italy, but the blight has arrived, and one day they will be gone.

jim

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