Can someone help me identify this chestnut tree? We planted it +10 years ago from a conker and it is a slow grower has catkins but refuses to flower and produce fruit. Clearly the horse chestnuts nearby are not pollinating it so we'll have to plant one to help it along.
It appears to be some variety of Castanea, not Aesculus hippocastanum (horse chestnut). This image is of a seed grown Castanea Mollissima (edible chinese chestnut) in my backyard, which are wind or insect pollinated.
has catkins but refuses to flower The catkins are the flowers. Foliage looks like Castanea sativa. However all manner of hybrids between the various species have been made and put on the market.
If this is a Castanea does it require pollination from the same family or would planting a horse chestnut nearby do the trick?
Seeds of Sweet chestnut look very different from Horse chestnut seeds. castanea sativa seeds - Google Search aesculus hippocastanum seed pods - Google Search
