Edible Sweet Chestnut tree - Castanea Sativa

The Sweet Chestnut is the tree that edible Chestnuts come from. The species name is "Castanea Sativa" and it is a tree that is native to Southern Europe. This tree should not be confused with the Common Horse Chestnut which has a similar shaped "fruit" that is NOT edible. The images in this blog post were taken at a very large Sweet Chestnut tree in Southern Spain that is called the "Castaño Santo de Istan". In the fourth image down in this post there is a picture of my son in the tree that gives an idea of its size.

The leaves of the Sweet Chestnut are elliptical with serrate margins and pinnate venation. They measure about 5-7 inches long and about 2-3 inches wide. The edible part of the chestnut is enclosed in a "porky pine like" casing that splits open when mature revealing the nut inside.

Sacred Chestnut of Istan

The tree above is the largest Sweet Chestnut that I have seen. It´s trunk is 46 feet in circumference at the base. It is estimated to be between 800 and 1,000 years old.

The bark of the Castinea sative can be quite different depending on the maturity of the branch or trunk. The image above contrasts the very young bark and very mature bark.

Every winter in Spain, usually around Christmas, it is common to come across street vendors, like the one below, that roast fresh Chestnuts and sell them. The Chestnuts are roasted barbecue style in a drum over hot coals. The sweet, nutty smell of the roasting Chestnuts fills the cool air and is almost irresistible to the passerby.

Where does cork come from?

Have you ever wondered where cork comes from? It comes from the bark of the "Cork Oak tree" (tree species name - Quercus suber). The cork bark of this species of oak tree (yes it does produce acorns) can grow to become two to three inches thick. Normally however it is harvested when it is about one or one and a half inches thick. In the image above you can see several different layers of the bark, the result of being harvested several times.
Only the bark on the main trunk and lower branches is harvested using special tools that peel off large sections of the outer bark without damaging the tree. What is left is the dark inner bark that you can see on the tree below. The bark takes about 7-10 years to grow back to a thickness that can be harvested again.
The picture below is a piece of the cork bark that I found laying on the ground. This particular piece was almost two inches thick. One curious thing that I have found with the bark of this oak tree species is its seeming resistance to rotting. I have often found sections of branches laying on the ground where the wood has rotted away leaving a "tube" of bark that does not seem to have rotted at all.
One interesting use for cork bark in Spain is in the tradition of making nativity sets. In almost all nativity sets you will see sections of this bark used to make the homes or stable or even caves. Keep in mind that in Spain nativity sets tend to be very elaborate and large "model villages" with Bethlehem, Roman forts and the countryside represented.

Cork Oak Tree - Quercus suber

The Cork Oak tree is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa and since I live in Spain I have seen a great many of these trees. The pictures from todays post were taken while on a hike to find the "Castaño Santo de Istán" (the Sacred Chestnut of Istan - a tree that is quite famous locally). Our adventure started in the coastal town of "San Pedro de Alcantara" which is just west of the city of "Marbella" on the Spanish Sun Coast. We took a very rugged dirt and rock road that started near a local golf course. After driving for about five miles we parked the car and proceeded on foot towards the renowned tree. On the way however we discovered that the area was mostly populated with Cork Oak trees much like the one in the image above.

Virtually all of the Cork trees had had their "cork" bark harvested at some point which left them with a blackish bark up the main trunk and up to about 12-15 feet off the ground. In my next post I will go into greater detail about the bark of this interesting tree.

One interesting event of this hike happened when I ventured into the stand of Quercus suber above. I was observing the ground that was all rooted up and decided to take a picture. Well just as the camera went click I heard a grunting noise and saw a large black pig out of the corner of my eye just as it dashed into a thicket. This pig and its herd were the ones responsible for the upturned grounded that I had been observing. The reason for this is that they live mainly on the acorns of this and similar Quercus (Oak) tree species. Later when I got home and took a close look at the picture I had taken I discovered that the pig had gotten into the image (the picture below is an amplification of the the bottom right corner of the image above.

After that little incident I rejoined my family who was picnicking in the shade of the "Sacred Chestnut" (the locals call it the grandfather of the forest). The image below is a Cork oak on the left and the Sacred Chestnut on the right. It does not look too huge in this picture but this tree is about 20 feet across!!

The image below is of the bark on a tree that has not had its cork harvested. In Spanish this tree goes by the name "Alcornoque" and a stand of them is called an "Alcornocal". The word for the cork is "corcho".
Some other trees similar to this are the "English Oak" and the "Holm Oak". One tree that is planted in southern Spain and goes by the name Oak although it is not a member of the Quercus genus is the "Australian Silver Oak".

Carob tree - Ceratonia siliqua

The Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) is best known for its edible seeds that are used, among other things, as a chocolate substitute. It is a tree that grows well in dry climates, which would explain its relative abundance in Southern Spain were the Carob tree and the Holm Oak can be found on most "fincas" (small farms or country houses). The images I have used in this post are from several trees not far from my home.

The leaves of the Carob tree are even-pinnately compound with the individual leaflets being slightly oblong with a round base and about two inches in length. The venation is pinnate.
The seedpods of the Carob tree look a lot like green-beans. Before they turn ripe they are bright, shinny green and measure about 5-7 inches in length. When ripe they darken to almost pure black and become somewhat withered. The seed pods hand in small clusters from the primary and secondary branches and I have even seen them growing right out of the main trunk. Judging by what I have seen the clusters can contain from two to seven seed pods.

The image below shows the edible carob seeds in a ripe seed pods that I carefully opened up. These seeds can be eaten right out of the seed pop or can be used to make a number of things such as a chocolate substitute, flower, molasses, alcohol, etc. Many of these products are made from ceratonia (also known as locust bean gum or Carob bean gum).

One interesting thing about the tree itself is its highly gnarled trunk when it get old. Near where I live most of the Carob trees have super gnarled trunks like the image below. Once while out on a hike I came across one with a large broken branch that left the wood exposed. I was suprised by how red the wood was. Later a local man told me that this tree is used by local wood workers and carvers to make stair rails, small furniture and carvings.