Chestnut ID?

[alecs]

 

 

Came across this little sapling in my woods today.  It's about 12 feet tall and only about 2" diameter.  Attached is close up of leaves.  Is this possibly American Chestnut?  It's surrounded by lots of other taller trees, mostly oak and pine.  I think I saw one other similar one on my walk but didn't get close enough to take a pic.

Thanks for any feedback.

[GraceNmercy]

Looks like an American chestnut to me...I grow both pure American chestnuts as well as hybrids and I also have a few Allegheny chinquapin and those leaves look the same as my A. Chestnuts...

[WDH]

Check to see if the underside of the leaf is smooth or wooly/hairy. 

[alecs]

I checked the underside of the leaves today and they are smooth.  There are two trees growing at the same location but not very big and very much in the understory. 

If it is American Chestnut, how big do they get before they tend to succumb to the blight?  These are 10-12' tall but very spindly!

Thanks...

[WDH]

If the leaves are smooth underneath, it is american chestnut.  If they are wooly, it is chinquapin or chinese chestnut.  Looks like what you have is american chestnut.  I have seen them get up to 6 - 8" in diameter before the blight gets them.

[CJennings]

You can keep them alive longer if you put mud packs on the cankers so they don't girdle it (the trunk or larger limbs in the crown). That gets more difficult the larger the tree gets.