Family: FAGACEAE
Close relatives of the oaks, the chestnuts are long lived, deciduous, drought resistant trees, thriving on well drained and preferably light soils. They have a fair lime tolerance but do not seem able to withstand salinity.
By year 10, a grove of chestnuts planted at a density of 56 - 70 trees/ha could be expected to yield 0.77 t/ha of nuts under minimal irrigation and 1.7 t/ha under full irrigation.