The World

Return of the King

A scientist’s efforts to bring back what was once called “the king of trees”–the American Chestnut.

The American Chestnut tree once covered more than a quarter of the eastern woodlands from Michigan to Maine, and down into Georgia. But more than a century ago, a lethal fungus began killing off the great trees. Three and a half billion trees died. But they may be coming back. Diane Toomey reports.