Ryan Coffey, age 10, of Baton Rouge, La., for his question:

HOW TALL DOES A CHESTNUT TREE GROW?

The American chestnut tree grows to be about 100 feet high. The trees once grew in large numbers from central Maine, along the Appalachian Mountains and westward to Arkansas. Unfortunately, a fungus disease called "chestnut blight" has killed most of the chestnuts in North America.

The tree disease probably entered the United States in the 1890s from Japan. The chinquapin, a small relative, grows in many regions once occupied by the American chestnut.

Also, the castanea mollissima, or Chinese chestnut, and the castanea sativa, or Spanish chestnut, are available through nurseries and can be grown widely. The Chinese chestnut grows to be about 40 feet tall while the Spanish chestnut can reach 100 feet.

Early Americans found the chestnut tree valuable for its long lasting wood, the tannin (a substance used in tanning leather) and for the nuts it produced.