Sweet chestnut
Introduced, naturalised · Up to 36 m

Sweet chestnut

Castanea sativa · Fagaceae

Also called Spanish chestnut

Sweet chestnut is a big tree with long, glossy leaves. Each leaf is edged with coarse, spiky teeth. On an old trunk the bark ridges twist round, usually clockwise.

Often mistaken for horse chestnut. How to tell them apart →
Know it byLeavesLong, glossy leaves with spiky teeth down both edges.ChestnutsUsually three nuts in a ball of fine spines.BarkDeep ridges that spiral up an old trunk.

Then check · CatkinsFrom late June into July, long, creamy catkins stick stiffly out all over the tree and smell of frying mushrooms up close.

How to identify a sweet chestnut

Sweet chestnut: leaves
Leaves

Sweet chestnut leaves are long, glossy and dark green, with coarse, spiky teeth spaced evenly down both edges. About twenty pairs of straight veins run side by side.

Sweet chestnut: chestnutsPaul Cook, CC BY 4.0
Chestnuts

In summer the nuts grow inside green husks packed with fine, sharp spines. In autumn the husks split, often on the ground, to show glossy brown nuts, usually three.

Sweet chestnut: barkDunverig, CC BY 4.0
Bark

On a big old trunk the bark is cut into deep ridges that cross in a net. The whole net twists as it climbs, usually clockwise.

Learn the sweet chestnut in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely

Every part, in photographs

Sweet chestnut leaves: long leaves edged with coarse spine-teeth
LeavesLong leaves edged with coarse spine-teeth
Sweet chestnut catkins: pale spikes that turn the crown fawn
CatkinsPale spikes that turn the crown fawn
Sweet chestnut chestnuts: dense ball of fine spines, usually three nutsOwen and Carol Fawcett., CC BY 4.0
ChestnutsDense ball of fine spines, usually three nuts
Sweet chestnut bark: ridges that spiral round an old trunkjamie-aa, CC BY 4.0
BarkRidges that spiral round an old trunk
Sweet chestnut shape: long trunk, dense glossy crown, fawn in July
ShapeLong trunk, dense glossy crown, fawn in July

When to look

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In leaf
Catkins
Chestnuts

In leaf: April to November · Catkins: May to August · Chestnuts: July to November

Every tree on the calendar

Where you’ll find it

Common on poor, dry, sandy and gravelly soils, and the main tree in many sandy woods in the south-east. It also grows in parks, gardens and the odd hedgerow. It is scarce on wet or very chalky ground.

What it’s mistaken for

Sweet chestnut: blades on one stalkHorse chestnut: blades on one stalkSweet chestnut or horse chestnut?They share half a name and both drop spiny husks in autumn, but they are not related.Blades on one stalk Sweet chestnut: huskCommon beech: huskSweet chestnut or common beech?Both are in the beech family and both drop nuts in prickly husks.Husk Sweet chestnut: leaf lengthHornbeam: leaf lengthSweet chestnut or hornbeam?Both have toothed leaves with parallel veins standing out.Leaf length

More oaks, beeches and sweet chestnut

Common beechFagus sylvaticaCopper beechFagus sylvatica f. purpureaEnglish oakQuercus roburHolm oakQuercus ilexRed oakQuercus rubraSessile oakQuercus petraeaTurkey oakQuercus cerris
In the app

There’s more of the sweet chestnut in Treely

  • Every part, through the yearLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed in every season
  • Its lookalikes, side by sideThe checks that settle it, part by part
  • A short round each dayUntil you know the sweet chestnut on sight, from any side
  • Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree
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Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: david_and_moira_sinden (CC0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), Paul Cook (CC BY 4.0), Dunverig (CC BY 4.0), cjoynson (CC0), Owen and Carol Fawcett. (CC BY 4.0), jamie-aa (CC BY 4.0), Leon Cross (CC BY 4.0), Joss Carr (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.