| Summary: | The European or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) is an important multipurpose tree that is much heralded in Portuguese history and culture, for both the quality of its wood and its exceptionally versatile nuts. The sweet chestnut’s specific nomenclature sativa is derived from the Latin botanical adjective meaning cultivated and is used to designate certain seed-grown, domestic crops. Most Portuguese take it for granted that the cultivation of the chestnut tree, or castanheiro, was introduced and spread by the Romans. Studies based on fossil records, however, reveal that the occurrence of the Castanea sativa formations in Portugal date as far back as 8,000 years—pre-dating the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula by millennia (Paiva 2007). Although chestnut can be found throughout Portugal, it is most widely distributed in the northern and central mountainous areas of the country It can also be found in the mountains of São Mamede (northern Alentejo province) and the Monchique escarpment in the northern Algarve, Portugal’s southernmost province....In this article it is prsented the hstory of the chestnut culture in Portugal.
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