Morena Chestnut (Castanea sativa ‘Morena’) is an early-season chestnut valued for its large, attractive nuts, good flavour and ease of peeling. An established commercial cultivar in Australia, Morena produces nuts grading in the Large and Special size classes and is particularly suited to roasting, boiling and general culinary use. Its combination of early harvest, eating quality and easy peeling has made it a useful cultivar in Australian chestnut orchards.
Need help? Visit our care & planting instructions and pollination guide for practical advice.
- Uses: Eating fresh after cooking; roasting, boiling and general culinary use
- Harvest: Early season; typically autumn
- Nut: Large, good eating quality and easy to peel
- Pollination: Plant with another compatible chestnut cultivar for reliable cross-pollination
- Size: Large deciduous tree; size can be controlled to some extent by orchard pruning
- Attributes: Early cropping season; commercially grown in Australia; good eating and peeling qualities
Check out the book Just Nuts for practical, down-to-earth growing advice tailored to Australian conditions.
Keep your collection labelled. Add a durable engraved plant label to your order, and order extra labels for existing plants so every tree in your collection stays correctly named.
References include:
Hort Innovation — Chestnut DNA fingerprinting project CH04005
West Australian Nut and Tree Crops Association — Yearbook Volume 22
Sassafras Nuts — Our Orchard
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station — Cultivars of Chestnut
Representative image
