Crane

‘Crane’ (C. mollissima) is a seedling selected from nuts sent by Peter Liu to the USDA in 1936, and subsequently evaluated in Philema, GA. It is from the same seedlot as ‘Meiling’ and ‘Nanking’, but it grows more upright, maintaining a stronger central leader. J.W. McKay named ‘Crane’ in 1963 to honor H.L. Crane, a chestnut researcher from the 1930s to 1950s. The nuts (10–12 g) are a distinctive reddish color and have good keeping quality. However, the nut flavor is average for a C. mollissima nut; therefore, it is seldom planted today (Miller, 2003; Nave, 1998).