We recently ran across one of my favorite treats in the backcountry! A delicious wild nut called a Chinquapin.
The American Chinquapin (Castaneda pumila) is a “species” closely related to the chestnut although smaller. Also commonly known as the Allegheny Chinquapin or dwarf chestnut.
It is a deciduous tree found mostly in the eastern and southeastern United States. Sadly populations have declined over the last several year.
The Chinquapin tree can range in size from a small looking shrub to a small looking tree.
It’s nuts are edible and quite sweet when mature in the fall of the year. It has single seed burs. This means each burr that opens into two halves will have one small nut inside which gives the tree a distinctive chestnut look.
Legend has it that Captain John Smith not knowing what they were wrote the first European record of a Chinquapin in 1612. “The Indians have a small fruit growing on a little tree, husked like a Chestnut. This they call a “Checkinquamins”, which they esteem a great daintie.”
