Castanea pumila, commonly known as the Allegheny chinquapin, American chinquapin or dwarf chestnut, is a species of chestnut native to the southeastern United States.

What does the word Chinkapin mean?

1 : the edible nut of a chinquapin. 2 : any of several trees (genera Castanea and Castanopsis) especially : a dwarf chestnut (Castanea pumila) of the U.S.

Where does the word Chinquapin come from?

Like its cognate / alternative form chinkapin, chinquapin is an alteration of chechinquamin / chincomen (the form found in early records), from an Algonquian language (sometimes said specifically to be from Powhatan). The final element is *mini (“berry, fruit”).