American chestnut trees are “technically extinct”

Re:American chestnut trees are “technically extinct” by driverdan on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @09:52AM (#13481796)

They have it backwards. They're technically not extinct, just rare. I've seen them in the wild.

My parents have one in their front yard they planted around 30 years ago from a sapling they found while camping. It makes me wonder if it's a resistant strain.

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Re:American chestnut trees are “technically extinct” by aacook on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @04:31PM (#13486369)

I think the term is "functionally extinct". The blight doesn't affect them until they're 20-30 years old. There's a very good chance they'll die. I don't think they've found a blight-resistant strain yet, just isolated trees, which always eventually get blighted.

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Re:American chestnut trees are “technically extinct” by DashRattlesnake on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @11:01AM (#13482452)

It sounds like reproduction has basically stopped in the wild, and extinction is a foregone conclusion without human intervention. It's an interesting grey area.

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