chestnut blight

American  

noun

Plant Pathology.

1. a disease of chestnuts, especially the American chestnut, characterized by bark lesions that girdle and eventually kill the tree, caused by a fungus, Endothia parasitica.

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Etymology

Origin of chestnut blight

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Example Sentences

The chestnut blight secretes a searing chemical, oxalic acid, into the tree bark, eventually causing cankers and death.

From Salon • Dec. 18, 2023

American chestnuts were once the dominant tree species in the Eastern United States, until the chestnut blight of the early 1900s killed almost all of them.

From Washington Times • Oct. 17, 2020

“You’ve got the American chestnut blight and the Dutch elm disease, but this seems extraordinarily rapid and severe.”

From Scientific American • Jul. 5, 2020

The outbreak of Dutch elm disease was initially detected in Cleveland in the 1930s — even as American plant pathologists were fighting a losing battle with chestnut blight.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 13, 2018

Chestnut was especially popular—not the imported European chestnut roasted on Manhattan street corners in the fall, but the smaller, soft-shelled, deeply sweet native American chestnut, now almost extinguished by chestnut blight.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann