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The range of Alleghany Chinkapin extends from New Jersey south to Florida and west to eastern Texas and then North again to the southern parts of Ohio.
They have alternate, simple leaves 3 to 6 inches long. The leaves are oblong to lanceolate with a toothed margin. The underside is covered with velvety white hair.
The Alleghany Chinkapin forms either a small shrub or a tree form depending on where it is growing and the conditions found there. The Allegheny Chinkapin hybridizes with the American Chestnut.
Alleghany chinkapin nuts are excellent wildlife food and are consumed by deer, squirrels, chipmunks, opossums, racoons as well as some birds. Deer browse the foliage of as well.
The occurrance of the Alleghany Chinkapin has been reduced for two reasons. The restricted use of fire in forest and chestnut blight. Some Alleghany Chinkapin populations are devastated by the blight and other populations show complete resistance to the disease.
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