COMMON HORSE-CHESNUT. Ill 



Kentucky. It is a low tree, with a rough, blackish bark, the cellular integu- 

 ment of which, emits a disagreeable, foetid odour. The ordinary stature is ten 

 or twelve feet, but it sometimes attains a height of thirty or thirty-five feet, 

 with a diameter of twelve or fifteen inches. The leaflets are glabrous, une- 

 qual in size, oval-acuminate, irregularly toothed, and of a fine green colour. 

 The flowers are white, about half the size of the 7?^sculus hippocastanum, and 

 appear in May or June. The fruit is also about half the size, of the same colour, 

 and is contained in fleshy, prickly capsules, and matures early in autumn. 



4. M. H. RUBicuNDA, Loudou. Scurlet-Jlowered Horse-chesniit ; Marroiiier rubi- 

 cund of the French ; and ^charlackrother Rosskastanienbuiim of the Germans. 

 The colour of the flowers of this variety is scarlet. The leaves are of a deeper 

 green than those of any other kind. It is distinguished from the J^sculus hippo- 

 castanum by the leaves being fuller and more uneven on the surface, and of a 

 deeper green ; and from the ^Esculus rubra, by its larger and rougher leaves. 

 It is doubtful whether this tree is a native of America, or originated in British 

 nurseries. It was first cultivated in England in 1820 ; and a tree at Endsleigh 

 Cottage, in Devonshire, attained the height of thirty feet in eighteen years after 

 planting. 



5. M. H. GLABRA, Loudon. Smooth-leaved Horse-chesnut. This variety is a 

 low tree, native of North America, and introduced into Britain in 1822. Its 

 leaflets are of a pale-green, very smooth, and fall in autumn sooner than those 

 of most other varieties. The flowers are of a greenish-yellow, and appear in 

 June. The whole plant is comparatively glabrous, and even the fruit partakes 

 of that quality. 



6. M. H. PALLIDA, Loudon. Pale-jiowered Horse-cltesmit ; Gelhlicher Rosskas- 

 tanieiibaum of the Germans. This variety is a native of the forests of Kentucky, 

 and was introduced into Britain in 1812. It closely resembles the preceding vari- 

 ety, but is somewhat more robust in its growth. Its flowers are paler, being of a 

 whitish, or greenish-yellow, and its leaves are not quite so smooth. 



7. JE. H. ASPLENiiFOLiA. Femllke-leaved Horse-chesnut. This is a French 

 variety, having leaves resembling those of ferns. 



8. iE. H. FOLiis ARGENTEis, Loudou. SUver-leavcd Horse-chesnut, the leaves of 

 which are blotched, or striped with white, instead of yellow. 



Geography and History. The native country of the common horse-chesnut, 

 Mr. Royle observes, " is yet unknown, though stated, in some works, to be the 

 north of India." He says that he never met with it, though often visiting the 

 mountains of that country, where, if anywhere, it was likely to be found, and 

 where the Indian horse-chesnut was found in abundance. 



According to M. Bon de Saint-Hilaire, the horse-chesnut passed from the 

 mountains of Thibet to England in 1.550, and thence to Vienna, by Clusius, and 

 afterwards to Paris by Bachelier. It is also stated by Clusius, in his " Rariorum 

 Plantarum Historia," that there was a plant of this species at Vienna, in 1588, 

 which had been brought there twelve years before, but which had not then 

 flowered. It has also been said that this tree was first raised in France, from 

 seeds, procured from the Levant, in the year 1615, by one Bachelier. Parkinson, 

 in 1629, says, "Our Christian world had first a knowledge of it from Constanti- 

 nople." The same author placed it in his orchard, as a fruit-tree, between the 

 walnut and the mulberries. We afterwards find it mentioned in Johnson's edi- 

 tion of Gerard's " Herbal," in 1633, as then growing in Mr. Tradescant's garden, 

 at South Lambeth. From this period till the time of Miller, it appears to have 

 attracted great attention, and acquired a high reputation as an ornamental tree, 

 as he represents it in i731, as being very common in England, and extensively 

 employed in the formation of avenues and public walks. 



The largest horse-chesnut, supposed to exist in Britain, is at Nocton, m 



