Tree Study 763 



The great terminal buds hold both leaves and flowers. The buds in winter 

 are brown and shining as if varnished; when they begin to swell, they open, 

 displaying the silky gray floss which swaddles the tiny leaves. The leaves 

 unfold rapidly and lift up their green leaflets, looking like partly opened 

 umbrellas, and giving the tree a very downy appearance, which Lowell so 

 well describes : 



"And gray hoss-chestnut's leetle hands unfold 

 Softer'n a baby's be at three days old." 



The leaf, when fully developed, has seven leaflets, of which the central 

 ones are the larger. They are all attached around the tip of the petiole. 

 The number of leaflets may vary from three to nine, but is usually seven. 

 The leaflets are oval in shape, being attached to the petiole at the smaller 

 end; their edges are irregularly toothed. The veins are large, straight and 

 lighter in color; the upper surface is smooth and dark green, the under side 

 is lighter in color and slightly rough. The petiole is long and shining and 

 enlarges at both ends; when cut across, it shows a woody outer part encas- 

 ing a bundle of fibres, one fiber to each leaflet. The places where these 

 fibers were attached to the twig make the nails in the horseshoe scar. The 

 leaves are placed opposite 011 the twigs. 



Very different from that of the horse-chestnut is the flower of the yellow 7 

 or sweet, buckeye; the calyx is tubular, long and five-lobed; the two side 

 petals are on long stalks and are closed like spoons over the stamens and 

 anthers; the two upper petals are also on long stalks, lifting themselves up 

 and showing on their inner surfaces a bit of color to tell the wandering bee 

 that here is a tube to be explored. The flowers are greenish yellow. The 

 flowers of the Ohio buckeye show a stage between the sweet buckeye and 

 the horse-chestnut. The Ohio buckeye is our most common native relative 

 of the horse-chestnut. Its leaves have five leaflets instead of seven. The 

 Sweet buckeye is also an American species and grows in the Alleghany 

 mountains. 



LESSON CXCY 



THE HORSE-CHESTNUT 



Leading thought The horse-chestnut has been introduced into America 

 as a shade tree from Asia Minor and southern Europe. Its foliage and its 

 flowers are both beautiful. 



Method This tree is almost always at hand for the village teacher, as it 

 is so often used as a shade tree. Watching the leaves develop from the 

 buds is one of the most common of the nature-study lessons. The study of 

 the buds, leaves and fruits may be made in school ; but the children should 

 observe the tree where it grows and pay special attention to its insect visi- 

 tors when it is in bloom. 



Observations i. Describe the horse-chestnut tree when in blossom. 

 At what time does this occur? What is there in its shape and foliage and 

 flowers which make it a favorite shade tree ? Where did it grow r naturally ? 

 What relatives of the horse-chestnut are native to America? 



2. Study the blossom cluster; are the flowers borne on the ends or on 

 the sides of the twig? Describe the shape of the cluster. How are the 

 flowers arranged on the main flower stalk to produce this form? Do the 

 flowers open all at once from top to bottom of the cluster? Are all the 

 flowers in the cluster the same color? Are they fragrant? What insects 

 visit them? 



