Part of the charm of woodland in the Châtaigneraie is that it is not properly husbanded, partly because much of it lies on very steep slopes. As a result one finds a very wide range of tree varieties (sweet chestnut, horse chestnut, false acacia, oak, ash, elm, beech, silver birch, lime, medlar, white poplar, lombardy poplar, aspen, spruce, pine, wild pear, crab apple and wild cherry, among others). Each individual tree has to fight it out with its competitors in the eco-system. The result