For centuries, the American chestnut was prized for its strong, straight-grained wood that was easy to saw and split. Highly resistant to decay, chestnuts were used in a variety of applications, from furniture and split-rail fences to chestnut hardwood flooring and telephone poles. Sadly, during the early to mid-1900s, this once vital hardwood timber tree was virtually destroyed in the eastern United States by an Asian bark fungus. One of the rarest of the reclaimed hardwoods, our wormy chestnut hardwood flooring – prominently marked with insect-bored wormholes – derives from roof rafters, floor joists and granary boards in old barns, houses and factories. Choosing this commercially extinct chestnut wide plank flooring for your home will add a touch of elegance and a priceless piece of the American past. Distinctives of Reclaimed American Wormy Chestnut Along with the distinguishing wormholes in this commercially extinct wood, American wormy chestnut features some original saw marks, nail holes, sound cracks and checking. These delicately dappled planks range in color from lustrous tan to dark chocolate with an open, tight grain texture.