Chinaberry Wars

[cstocks]

If you have never seen a Chinaberry tree you haven't missed anything. They are a trash tree if there ever was one. Each tree produces thousands of berries inside pointed little hulls. The berries and hulls litter the ground in the fall and winter and are a nuisance, not to mention a pain to bare feet the following spring if not cleaned up. They shed limbs like a snake sheds it skin and are easily broken during storms. Some folks favor them for their shade because they grow fast but they will completely take over a pasture or field if allowed to. In my parts there are many Chinaberry "forests" where fields are no longer used. They are very invasive and a general pain in the derriere. If you have sweet gums in your part of the country you can kinda get the idea of what a worthless tree they are. I guess you can tell what I think of them, huh? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I went hunting for a picture of the tree we had in our back yard. This is it. Guess what else I found out. The chinaberries are poisonous /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[cstocks]

Hmmm, excuse my confusion. I am thinking of the Chinese Tallow tree, which a lot of folks (apparently mistakenly) call a Chinaberry tree. I did not realize there was a difference until you posted the picture just now. I can't say as I have ever seen a Chinaberry tree. When you talked about berry wars I immediately assumed I was thinking about the same tree you are talking about. My bad! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Well I can tell you one thing. My dad used to cuss this tree constantly. I thought there for a minute I had my trees mixed up as well. Plus I think there are a couple of different varieties of chinaberry. You may be thinking of another strain.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hey I found your Chinese Tallow tree and you're right, they are invasive and spreading all over the place.

 

[Bird]

The place we sold last Fall had 3 Chinaberry trees in the yard, but they never looked as good as the one in your picture. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

I don't think I've ever seen either of the trees. They may not grow this far north.

I do have some American Chestnuts (just the nuts, not the trees, unfortunately). I'll try to remember and take some pictures of them. Most folks have never seen a chestnut, or haven't seen any since they were a kid. I'm about 30 miles from the Chestnut festival. They have developed a blight resistant American Chestnut and have been growing them for the last 20 years or so. They are hoping to replant most of the country from the trees coming from just one nursery.

Steve

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Chestnuts.

I bought a box last year and have these left. All of the ones I bought looked pretty much the same (very uniform).

Steve

 

[Anonymous Poster]

If those are the ones that you usually see in the holiday mixes, I love those things. They're one of my favorite nuts. I really miss having nut trees. We had pecan and walnut in Texas that I remember, but nut trees need a cold period, too cold for here I guess. I think I may have seen an almond tree out here but I'm not sure.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

These are American Chestnuts. They were native through much of the country prior to the blight. They are related to the nuts in the Holiday mixes but are somehat different.

At the festival, they have them roasted, ground into bread, made into soup and a number of other interesting things. I was too late to get one of the seedlings. They only had about 5000 to give away. Now, I'm trying to figure out if I can hatch one out from year old nuts.

Steve