LARGE BUCKEYE. 119 



This species was introduced into Britain in 1764, and has since been culti- 

 vated in many gardens on the continent. The largest tree in England is at 

 Syon, which, in 1835, was forty feet in height. 



At Paris, in the Jardin des Plantes, there is a tree, which attained the height 

 of forty-four feet in fifty-five years after planting. 



In Hanover, at Schwobber, there is also a tree forty feet in height. 



In the Bartram botanic garden, at Kingsessing, near Philadelphia, there is a 

 large buckeye, ninety feet in height, with a trunk six feet and a half in circum- 

 ference. 



Soil, Sihiation, (Sf'c. In its native country, the iEsculus flava prefers the decliv- 

 ities of mountains, where the soil is loose, deep, and fertile. It is commonly 

 propagated by budding, because the colour of the flowers is found to vary much in 

 plants raised from seeds. It may also be grafted, like the jEscuIus pavia, on 

 the common horse-chesnut. This species is not quite so free a flowerer as the 

 last-named species, and it is one of the first trees of the genus to drop its leaves. 



The wood of this tree, from its softness, and want of strength and durability, 

 can subserve to but few useful purposes. 



Although the iEsculus flava is much inferior to the common horse-chesnut 

 both in point of grandeur and floral beauty, and besides, has the disadvantage of 

 losing its leaves late in smnmer or very early in autumn, it well deserves 

 place in every collection. 



