86 



Common Trees 



HORSE CHESTNUT 



Aesculus Hippocastanum. Linnaeus 



THE Horse Chestnut has been carried by man from its 

 original home in the mountains of Greece over a con- 

 siderable part of the civilized world. 



The leaves are opposite, compound, with usually 5 to 7 

 leaflets. The leaflets are 5 to 7 inches long, about 2 inches 



HORSE-CHESTNUT 

 One-third natural size. Twig, one-half natural sixe. 



wide, inversely egg-shaped, arranged in fan-like form. 



The flowers appear in May or June, are large, white, 

 with throats dotted with yellow and purple, arranged in 

 upright clusters 8 to 12 inches high. The fruit is a leathery 

 round capsule, about 2 inches across, roughened with spines, 

 and contain 1 to 3 shiny brown nuts. 



The bark is dark brown, breaks up into thin plates which 

 peel off slowly. The twigs are stout, reddish-brown, 

 smooth, obscurely dotted with breathing pores, marked with 

 large horseshoe-like leaf-scars each with 5 to 7 groups of 

 bundle-scars. The buds are large, sticky, varnished, red- 

 dish-brown. The wood is soft, light, weak, whitish. 



The Horse Chestnut is a sturdy, rapid-growing tree, now- 

 found in every state of the Union, and widely planted in 

 Ohio for ornamental uses. 



