Colossal (chestnut)
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The chestnut cultivar Colossal originates from the USA - California Central Valley. It is a Castanea sativa × Castanea crenata hybrid that is cold hardy to −20 °F (−29 °C). The tree can be grown in Zones 4-8, blooms early, and is pollen sterile. Colossal is chestnut blight, root rot and kernel rot susceptible.[1]
It is probable that ‘Colossal’ was a seedling of one of Felix Gillet’s high quality French (Castanea sativa) cultivars, pollinized by a Japanese (Castanea crenata) tree. The original Colossal tree and its pollinizer were planted in approximately 1888-1890 by Benjamin Tonella in Nevada City, California[2] The most likely source for the trees was The Barren Hill Nursery of Felix Gillet. Gillet imported some of the best French chestnut cultivars and also imported an assortment of Japanese chestnuts. Gillet died in 1908 and the nursery was bought by C. E. Parsons. Parsons introduced the Colossal chestnut commercially in 1925. In 2000, the original ‘Colossal’ tree was over 70 ft (21 m) tall, with a spread of over 50 ft (15 m) and a trunk circumference approaching 14 ft (4.3 m).