Chestnut
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Chestnut. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a genus of plants, order Cupuliferæ, allied to the beech. The chestnut (Castanea vesca) is a stately tree, with large, common or Spanish large, handsome, serrated, dark-green leaves. The fruit consists of two or more seeds Probably a enveloped in a prickly husk. has long been native of Asia Minor, it naturalized in Europe, and was perhaps by the introduced into Great Britain freely in Romans. The tree grows Great Britain, and may reach the age of many centuries. Its fruit ripens only in some cases, however, and the chest- Great Britain are mostly nuts eaten in staple imported. Chestnuts form a article of food among the peasants of Spain and Italy. The timber of the tree was formerly more in use than it is now; it is inferior to that of the oak, though very similar to it in appearance, Two American especially when old. species of chestnuts, C. americāna and C. pumila (the latter a shrub), have edible fruits. The former is often regarded as identical with the European tree. The name of Cape Chestnut is given to a beautiful tree of the rue family, a native of Cape Colony. The Iamil Moreton Bay Chestnut is a leguminous tree of Australia, Castanospermum resembling those of austrāle, with fruits is the the chestnut. The water-chestnut water-caltrop, Trapa natans. The horsefrom chestnut is quite a different tree the common chestnut.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a nut-bearing tree closely related to the oaks and beeches. A flattening of the sides of the fruit is due to their clustering two to three in a cup. The European chestnut is larger and coarser in taste than ours. The Japanese nut is smaller and of inferior quality. The American chestnut is a straight forest tree, 100 feet in height, with cream colored, heavy scented flowers, accused of causing hay fever . The flowers appear in June and July. After heavy autumn frosts the rough prickly burs, which correspond to acorn cups, open and "the sound of falling nuts is heard." Two dwarf chestnuts, or chinquapins, the one, in the main, eastern, and the other southern, bear a solitary nut in each bur. They are earlier than the tree chestnut. They are delightfully sweet and wholesome. In southern Europe chestnuts are ground into a coarse meal for bread. The chestnut tree is long lived. A very large tree on Mount Etna has a girth of 208 feet. Chestnut timber lasts like oak. The bark is valued by the tanner. In allusion to a worm-eaten chestnut, the term "chestnut" is applied to a worn out pun, stale joke, an old anecdote, or to a statement repeated so often as to lose its hold on the hearer's interest. See Nuts