Chestnut Blight: The Fungus That Transformed America’s Forests

Chestnut blight is a lethal fungal disease caused by *Cryphonectria parasitica*, an invasive pathogen introduced from East Asia in the early 1900s. Within just a few decades, it wiped out nearly all mature American chestnut trees (*Castanea dentata*), a species once considered the “redwood of the East” for its size, strength, and ecological importance. [NC State Extension Publications] 🌰 Chestnut…