the leaves served as bedding for the animals and the wood burning warmed people throughout the long winters. Even the bark was useful for its tannin, which is still used today in the process of hide tanning and for medicinal purposes. It was also because of a disease, the 'chestnut cancer', that this plant lost its importance. The disease killed entire forests and forced the people to abandon the mountains. Today the chestnut has regained its place as an economically useful plant.