In the early 1900s, blight wiped out nearly all the kinds of American chestnut trees. However, only recently, a stand of these trees is found along a hiking trail, which is not far from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Little White House at Warm Springs.
The find is naturally an excitement for those concerned about restoring the American chestnut. The discovery has also placed optimism among scientists, as the trees’ pollen might be used to breed hardier chestnut trees.
Nathan Klaus, a biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources was the first to spot the trees. He said,
There’s something about this place that has allowed them to endure the blight… It’s either that these trees are able to resist the blight, which is unlikely, or Pine Mountain has something unique that is giving these trees resistance.
Via: Live Science