187 



THE HORSE CHESTNUT. 



HIPPOCASTANUM. 

 Natural Order HIPPOCASTANE^I. 

 Class KEPT AND RIA. Order MONOGYNI A. 



THE features presented by this tree are so decidedly dif- 

 ferent from those of the ordinary tenants of our woods and 

 forests, that a mere glance is sufficient to assure us that 

 where the Oak, the Ash, and the Elm are types of native 

 trees, the Horse Chestnut must be an alien, gladly admitted 

 though it be to a participation in all the privileges which 

 we accord to our undoubted and most highly-prized native 

 trees. Whether adding with its massive foliage to the 

 deep shadow of a wood, decorating the slopes of a park, or 

 uniting its broad leaves to form the canopy of a stately 

 avenue, it is everywhere in place, and everywhere worthy 

 of admiration. 



In early spring, before 



" The palms put forth their gems, and every tree 

 Now swaggers in her leafy gallantry," 



the Horse Chestnut has given full and timely notice of the 

 change which is in preparation. Every one of its stout 

 twigs is terminated by a turgid bud hastening to anticipate 

 its fellows in throwing off the wintry covering, like a lusty 

 infant struggling to be released from the arms of its nurse. 

 After the lapse of a week, the ground is strewed with the 

 party-coloured scales which well did their duty in protect- 

 ing the young shoots from the frosts and nipping winds of 

 February ; and though the air be motionless, others are 

 still dropping all around, proving that these integuments 

 are not passively scattered by the wind, but cast off by the 

 living, active energy of the awakened bud. 



The Horse Chestnut is a native of Asia, probably of 

 Northern India, whence it was introduced into Europe about 



