Genus iESCULUS, Linn. 



iEsculacese. 



Syst. Nat. 



Msculus, Hippocastanum, Favia, 



Marronier d'Indie, 

 Rosskastanie. 

 Ippocastano, 

 Horse-chesmft, Buckeye, 



Heptandria Monogjmia. 

 Syst. Lin. 



Synonymes. 



Of Authors. 



FRiNCE. 



Germany. 



Italy. 



Britain and Anglo-America. 



Oerivations. The word JEsculus, derived from the Latin esca, nourishment, waa applied by Pliny to a species of oak which 

 had an edible acorn. The name Hippocastanum, derived from the Greek hippos, a horse, and castanon, a chesnut, is sup- 

 po.sed to have been given to this tree, because, in Turlcey, the nuts were used for curing horses of pulmonary diseases. The 

 name, Pavia, is so called, in honour of Peter Paw, a Dutch botanist. 



Distinctive Characters. Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed. Ovary roundish, trigonal. Seeds large and globose : 

 albumen wanting. Embryo curved, inverted, with fleshy, thick, gibbous cotyledons, not produced 

 above ground in germination. Plumule large, 2-leaved. Loudon, Arboretum. 



Y most modern botanists, the order jEsculaceae, is supposed to 

 embrace two separate genera, jEscidus and Pavia, distinguished 

 from each other chiefly by the former having echinated capsules, 

 and the latter by having them smooth ; and also of the compar- 

 ative roughness of their leaves. To us it appears doubtful, 

 _ whether these circumstances are a sufficient generic distinction, 



since they vary much in different individuals, and since, in some of the kinds, 

 which have apparently been produced between aesculus and pavia, the fruit is 

 as smooth, or nearly as much so as in the paviac proper. We shall, therefore, 

 embrace them all under four species, and regard the others as varieties. 



All the species, except one, which is a shrub, are deciduous trees, with deeply 

 cut leaves, and showy flowers. They are mostly natives of North America, 

 and some of the varieties are recognized, in Brazil, northern India, and Japan. 

 Their fruit is usually large and bitter, sternutatory, abounding in potash and 

 starch, and containing a febrifuge called (csculbie. Their bark is tonic and 

 astringent. 



