JESCULACEJE. 



ing the insertions of the filaments. Stamens as in the" male. Ovary 

 superior, ovate, 3-celled, with one ascending ovule in each cell. Style 

 short. Stigma 3-cleft, recurved, slender, downy. Drupe the size of a 

 nutmeg, a little pointed, covered with a tender, dry, grey pericarp. 

 Seeds ], 2, or 3, oblong, smooth, at the base obliquely truncate, and 

 there affixed, each surrounded with its proper, whitish, pulpy aril, which 

 is of a pleasant acid taste, and most grateful during dry weather. 

 Bark astringent ; rubbed up with oil the natives of India use it to cure 

 the itch. The pulpy subacid aril is edible and palatable. 



^ESCULACE^E. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 84. 



jESCULUS. 



Calyx campanulate. Petals 4-5, expanded, with an ovate 

 limb. Filaments curved inwards. Capsules prickly. Leaflets 

 sessile or nearly so. 



246. M. Hippocastanum Linn. sp. pi. 488. DC. prodr. i. 597. 

 N. and E. handb. iii. p. . pi. med. t. 375. S. and C. ii. t. 68. 

 North of India ? Persia ? More likely some of the north- 

 eastern provinces of Turkey. 



A middle sized round-headed tree. Leaves opposite, long-stalked, 

 digitate ; leaflets obovate-lanceolate, acuminate, rather thin and rugose, 

 coarsely and irregularly serrated, increasing in size from the end to 

 the centre. Calyx light green, campanulate, obtusely 5-toothed. Petals 

 5, white, oblong, unguiculate, fringed, wavy, with a small red spot 

 above the claw. Filaments shorter than the" petals, subulate ; anthers 

 reddish brown, oblong. Capsule roundish, prickly, thick and tough, 

 3-valved, 1-2-3-celled, containing 1-2-3 large, oblong, deep chesnut- 

 brown seeds, with a large broad space forming a hilum. Embryo curved ; 

 radicle bent down towards the hilum upon the thick fleshy cotyledons 

 which are wrinkled and firmly consolidated. Bark recommended as a 

 valuable febrifuge in intermittent and other fevers ; it deserves to be 

 the subject of a series of well-conducted experiments ; a decoction has 

 been recommended in gangrene ; and its powder as an errhine. 



124 



