One of the greatest ecological disasters the US has ever seen. Chestnut blight wiped out the American chestnut tree in less than 50 years. A tree that once made up nearly 25% of the eastern forests was reduced to a functionally extinct species. The Asian fungus Cryphonectria parasitica was accidentally introduced into the United States in the late 1800s. While a few diseased chestnuts were noted in the 1880s and 90s, it wasn't until 1904 that the pathogen was identified in New York City. From th