^ESCULUS HOUSE-CHESTNUT, BUCKEYE. 127 



the claw. Stamens shorter than the petals, declined. Capsule roundish, 

 prickly, 3-valved, 1- to 3-celled, containing 1 to 3 large, oblong, chestnut- 

 brown seeds. 



A medium-sized tree. Leaflets 7, obovate-lanceolate, acuminate, irreg- 

 ularly serrate. Flowers beautiful and showy, on jointed pedicels, appear- 

 ing in June. 



Habitat. Introduced from the East and commonly cultivated for orna- 

 ment ; scarcely naturalized. 



>sculus glabra Willdenow. Ohio Buckeye. 



Description. Corolla : petals 4, unequal, spreading, with claws as long 

 as the calyx, pale yellow. Stamens 7, curved, much longer than the petals. 

 Fruit nearly 1 inch in diameter, prickly. 



A small, ill-scented tree. Leaflets 5, oval or oblong, acuminate, serrate. 

 Flowers small, in loose thyrsoid panicles, appearing in May and June. 



Habitat. River banks in Western Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and 

 Kentucky. 



>Esculus Pavia Linne. Red Buckeye. 



Description. Calyx tubular. Corolla : petals 4, very unequal, connivent, 

 red. Stamens 6 to 8, about as long as the petals. Fruit smooth. 



A shrub or small tree. Leaflets 5 to 7, oblong-lanceolate, cuneate at 

 the base, slightly acuminate. Flowers large, in loose thyrsoid racemes, 

 appearing in April and May. 



Habitat. Mountains of Virginia to Georgia and westward. Most com- 

 monly a shrub, 3 to 10 feet high, but near the mountains a small tree. 



Parts Used.- The bark and the seeds not official. 



Constituents. The most important constituent thus far discovered in 

 any plant of this genus is a principle termed wsculin, which was obtained 

 from the bark of the horse-chestnut. The rind of the seeds also contains 

 some resculin. The seeds of all the species abound in starch, mixed, how- 

 ever, with a bitter and acrid substance, which can only be removed by long 

 washing. In the case of the red buckeye this has been shown to be a 

 glucoside, possessed of poisonous properties. 



Preparations. None are official. The virtues of the bark are impart- 

 ed to both alcohol and water. A commercial article erroneously termed 

 vesculin is prepared by precipitating the alcoholic tincture with water. It 

 is said to be an efficient preparation. 



Medical Properties and Uses, Horse-chestnut bark is tonic and astrin- 

 gent, and formerly had some reputation in Europe as an antiperiodic. It 

 has been used successfully in some cases of intermittents which had pre- 

 viously resisted quinine, but in general it is far less efficacious than the 

 latter. It is probable that the bark of all species of the genus possesses 

 similar properties, differing only in degree. The poisonous glucoside 

 found in the seeds of the red buckeye is also likely to be present in those 

 of other species. It is of a narcotic character and said to be about one- 



