The tallest chestnut tree in North American has been found in Lovell, Maine. Lovell, located in Oxford County, is home to about 1,140 residents, and, the chestnut tree.

The American Chestnut Foundation measured the tree to make it official. The tree was discovered during the summer in a forested area owned by the University of Maine. The land was donated to the University by the family of painter Douglas Volk.

Chestnut trees this large were common on the east coast of North America, but in the 1900’s a fungus from Asia ravaged the trees and only a few dozen large surviving trees remain in Maine.

The chestnut tree may be the largest but not necessarily the ‘biggest’. There are other chestnut trees that are shorter, but they're bigger around, so they would take the prize for the biggest.

 

 

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