Bouche de Betizac facts for kids

Bouche de Bétizac is a special type of chestnut tree from France. It was created in 1962 by scientists at INRA, near the town of Brive. This chestnut is a 'hybrid,' meaning it's a mix of two different chestnut trees: the European Sweet Chestnut and the Japanese Chestnut.

This tree grows very large chestnuts that taste great, especially for a hybrid! It's one of the most popular chestnut types grown in France, along with another one called Marigoule. That's because it produces a lot of chestnuts – about 3 tons from just one hectare of land! The nuts themselves are bright and light brown, but they turn darker as they get older.

Growing Bouche de Bétizac Chestnuts

This chestnut tree grows straight up and is not too tall. Farmers can plant these trees fairly close together in chestnut orchards. About 200 trees can fit in one hectare of land. These trees also start producing chestnuts quite quickly. For example, in areas with drip irrigation, a single tree can produce between 21 and 40 kilograms of chestnuts by the time it's 5 to 7 years old!

Pollination and Health

The Bouche de Bétizac tree cannot pollinate itself. It needs pollen from other chestnut varieties to produce nuts. Some good partners for pollination include Belle Epine (chestnut), Marron de Goujounac (chestnut), and Marron de Chevanceaux (chestnut).

Luckily, this type of chestnut tree is quite strong. It doesn't easily get sick from common chestnut diseases like chestnut blight or pests like the chestnut gall wasp. However, its leaves and buds appear early in spring. This means it can be damaged by late spring frosts.

Harvesting Chestnuts

The Bouche de Bétizac tree keeps its leaves until early autumn. The chestnuts also stay on the tree for a long time after they are ripe. Sometimes, farmers use special machines that shake the trees to help the nuts fall off for harvesting. In the southwest of France, these trees can be found growing at elevations up to 400 meters (about 1,300 feet) above sea level.