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Chestnuts (Castanea), including the chinkapins, are a genus of eight or nine species of trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the nuts produced by these trees. Most are tall trees to 30-40 m tall, but some species (the chinkapins) are shrubby. All are deciduous.

Castanea species are trees and shrubs with simple, ovate or lanceolate leaves with sharply-pointed, widely-spaced teeth, with rounded sinuses between. The fruit is a paired nut enclosed within a spiny husk. The flowers are catkins. The nuts are commonly eaten roasted or candied; the latter are often sold under the French name marrons glacés.

The American chestnut, formerly one of the dominant trees of the eastern United States, has been almost wiped out by chestnut blight; it was an important economic resource not only for the nuts which were sold across North AmericaNorth America is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocea, even by streetside vendors, but also for timber and tannin.

The American chinkapins are also very susceptible to chestnut blight. The European and west Asian Sweet chestnut is slightly susceptible, but less so than the American, and the east Asian species are resistant. These resistant species, particularly C. crenata and C. mollissima but also C. seguinii and C. henryi , have been used in breeding programs in the US to create hybridThis article is about a biological term. See hybrid (disambiguation) for other meanings. In biology, hybrid has two meanings. The first meaning is either the offspring of two different species, or of two different genera. The second meaning of "hybrid" iss with the American chestnut that are also disease resistant.

The name chestnut is also commonly applied to several species in the unrelated genus AesculusAesculus Buckeyes and Horse-chestnuts ''Aesculus hippocastanum : Plantae : Magnoliophyta : Magnoliopsida : Sapindales : Sapindaceae (Hippocastanaceae) Aesculus Species Aesculus arguta Texas Buckeye Aesculus californica California Buckeye Aesculus chinensi (family Sapindaceae), usually in compound form 'horse-chestnut', 'horse chestnut' or 'horsechestnut'. The nuts of this genus are inedible, 'only fit for horses', hence the name.

Chestnut is also used to describe a certain color of coat in horses.