The Ozark Chinquapin (Castanea ozarknesis) was once a ubiquitous species with a range that included the interior highlands of the Ozarks and parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama. The species is now threatened due to chestnut blight that was first introduced in the early 20th century by imported chestnut trees.
According to the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation, which has been working to save and reestablish the Ozark Chinquapin since 2007, the blight reached the Ozarks by the late 1930s and caused “the steady decline of the species.”
A recently discovered Ozark Chinquapin off Onyx Cave Rd., has been chosen as the current state champion Ozark Chinquapin. Patrick Ross, who was raised in the area, recognized several of the trees near his home two years ago and this prompted him to search further.
In May, when chinquapins bloom with white catkins, Patrick flew a drone over his property recording footage of trees below. Later, he took the footage and color-corrected it so that the catkin flowers would appear more prominently against the dark green canopy below. Results of the fly-over showed seven flowering chinquapins.
On finding the tree, Patrick said he was surprised that drones hadn’t been used previously to help find possible chinquapins. “Within several minutes I’d found this and others. I didn’t even see it [the now champion tree] when I flew over it.” The tree is just in the corner of the video. “But you can see how it stands higher than the others!” It was then he and his daughter, Izzy, made their way through the woods to confirm the tree was a chinquapin.
Patrick called the Arkansas Department of Agriculture Forestry Division, and they visited the property to give confirmation and measure the tree. On May 26, storms that ripped through Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas took out the, at the time, champion chinquapin near War Eagle Cavern. Ross’s tree took its place as champion in the next two weeks.
Patrick said that the ADA intends to take leaf samples as well as collect seeds once they drop. The need to find blight resistant trees is imperative to the species’ survival. The new champion tree has half of the tree that was infected by the blight and killed, while the other half has the tell-tale cankers of past infection.
The Rosses are excited to be the stewards of these chinquapins and Patrick hopes to do another drone flight next May to find more on their property. “You can see it wasn’t any kind of search pattern,” he said of his recorded flight. “And the path doesn’t show how little of the property the drone camera saw.” Patrick said that if he can get another drone flight, he doesn’t know how many more trees he may find.