chestnut blight
noun
: a destructive disease of the American chestnut and American chinquapins marked by cankers of the bark and cambium and caused by a fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica synonym Endothia parasitica) introduced into the U.S. from Asia in the early 1900s
Chestnut blight … quickly spread throughout the eastern states and by 1930, it destroyed virtually all mature chestnut trees.—
David Allen Sibley
David Allen SibleyChestnut blight, a classic among plant diseases, is caused by an introduced fungus that has nearly eliminated its host …—Sandra L. Anagnostakis
Sandra L. AnagnostakisIt has 17 canker-like sores, some as big around as a turkey platter, and thousands of "pycnidia"—the tiny, orange spore-cases that characterize spreading chestnut blight.—Cindy Anderson
Cindy Anderson
also
: the fungus causing chestnut blight
Known as chestnut blight, it was first discovered in the New York Zoological Garden in 1904 and was soon carried throughout the country by wind, rain, birds, and other animals. —Susan Freinkel
Susan Freinkel Examples of chestnut blight in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Other pests beyond the chestnut blight have entered the forest, too.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 4 Oct. 2024
Floristic changes following the chestnut blight may be delayed for decades
Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 4 Oct. 2024
The woodrats’ food sources have also taken a hit, such as chestnut trees destroyed by chestnut blight and acorn-producing oak trees imperiled by the spongy moth.
—Christine Condon, Baltimore Sun, 17 June 2024
And the infamous chestnut blight, a fungus accidentally introduced from Asia to North America in the late 1800s, wiped out billions of American chestnut trees.
—Jason Delborne, Discover Magazine, 23 Jan. 2019
But the chestnut blight five years earlier, that was still fresh.
—Hilda Gitchell, Scientific American, 26 Jan. 2023
When the 1904 chestnut blight hit, Flora was nearly a decade into her career at the USDA.
—Hilda Gitchell, Scientific American, 26 Jan. 2023
As instances of this nature may be mentioned English potato scab, silver scurf, chestnut blight disease and citrus canker, specimens of all of which had been secured by correspondence or requests for mycological assistance.
—Hilda Gitchell, Scientific American, 26 Jan. 2023
American chestnut trees have been decimated by chestnut blight, a fungal disease likely introduced to the United States a century ago by trees arriving from Asia.
—Discover Magazine, 22 Nov. 2010
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Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 4 Oct. 2024
Floristic changes following the chestnut blight may be delayed for decades
Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 4 Oct. 2024
The woodrats’ food sources have also taken a hit, such as chestnut trees destroyed by chestnut blight and acorn-producing oak trees imperiled by the spongy moth.
—Christine Condon, Baltimore Sun, 17 June 2024
And the infamous chestnut blight, a fungus accidentally introduced from Asia to North America in the late 1800s, wiped out billions of American chestnut trees.
—Jason Delborne, Discover Magazine, 23 Jan. 2019
But the chestnut blight five years earlier, that was still fresh.
—Hilda Gitchell, Scientific American, 26 Jan. 2023
When the 1904 chestnut blight hit, Flora was nearly a decade into her career at the USDA.
—Hilda Gitchell, Scientific American, 26 Jan. 2023
As instances of this nature may be mentioned English potato scab, silver scurf, chestnut blight disease and citrus canker, specimens of all of which had been secured by correspondence or requests for mycological assistance.
—Hilda Gitchell, Scientific American, 26 Jan. 2023
American chestnut trees have been decimated by chestnut blight, a fungal disease likely introduced to the United States a century ago by trees arriving from Asia.
—Discover Magazine, 22 Nov. 2010
Cite this Entry
“Chestnut blight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chestnut%20blight. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
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