124 arboretum et fruticetum britannicum. 



Genus 1. 



a 



^'SCULUSL. The Horsechestnut. Lin. Si/st. Heptkudrm Monogymii. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 462. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 597. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. -562. 



St/nonymt's . HippocAstanum Tourn. ; Marronier d'Inde, Fr. ; Rosskastanie, Ger. 



Derivation. The word yE'sculus, derived from esca, nourishment, is applied by Pliny to a species 

 of oak, which had an eatable acorn. The word Hippocastanum, from A?/?p()s i horse, and cas- 

 tanea, a chestnut, is said by some to have been given to this tree ironically, the nuts, though they 

 have the appearance of sweet chestnuts, being only fit for horses ; and by others, because it is said 

 the nuts are used in Turkey, for curing horses of pulmonary diseases. 



Gen. Char. Calyx campanulate. Petals^ 3, expanded, with an ovate border. 

 Stamens with the filaments recurved inwardly. Caj^sules echinated. Leaflets 

 sessile, or almost sessile. (Don's Mill,) Deciduous trees, natives of Asia 

 and North America. 



Leaves palmately divided, with stalked leaflets, generally rough. Capsule 

 rough. Buds generally covered with resin. Two species and several 

 varieties are in British gardens. 



The common horsechestnut is invariably propagated by the nuts, which are 

 sown when newly gathered, or in the following spring; and in either case they 

 will come up the succeeding summer. All the other sorts, as being varieties 

 of the species, are propagated by budding or grafting. Soil deep sandy loam. 

 Only the first three sorts described below can be considered as true horse- 

 chestnuts ; the remainder, to which some other names might be added, we 

 consider as hybrids between ^'sculus and some kind of Pavia, most pro- 

 bably P. flava. 



2 1. JE. Hippoca'stanum L. The common Horsechestnut. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 488. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 597. ; and Don's Mill., 1. p. 652. 



Synonymes. Hippocastanum vulgkre Tottra. ; Marronier d'Inde, fn ; gemeine Rosskastanie, Gen; 



Marrone d'India, Ital. 

 Engravings. Woodv. Med. Bot., t. 128. ; the plate of this species in the Arb. Brit., 1st edit., 



vol. V. ; and onr Jig. 166. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaflets 7, obovately cuneated, acute, and toothed. A lar^e 

 deciduous tree. Asia and North America. Height 50 ft. to 60 ft. In- 

 troduced in 1629. Flowers white, tinged with red ; May. Fruit brown ; 

 ripe in October. Decaying leaves dark brown. Naked young wood 

 brown. Buds long, large, greenish brown, covered with resin. 



Varieties. 



*t M. H. 2 fibre plena. Recorded in nurserymen's catalogues, but not 



common. ' 



t iE. H. 3 aicreo-variegdtum. The leaves are blotched with yellow, but 

 they have a ragged and unhealthy appearance, and are b}' no means 

 ornamental. 

 M. H. 4 argenteo-variegatum. Leaves blotched with white. 

 $ M. H. 5 inclsum Booth. JE. rtsplenifolia Hort. Leaflets cut into 



shreds. 

 Other Varieties. In Booth's Catalogue are the names JE. H. crispum, 

 nigrum, prae'cox, striatum, tortuosum, &c., but none of these, nor any other 

 variety which we have seen, is worth culture. 



A tree of the largest size, with an erect trunk, and a pyramidal head. The 

 leaves are large, of a deep green colour, and singularly interesting and beau- 

 tiful when they are first developed. When enfolded in the bud, they are 

 covered with pubescence, which falls off" as the leaves expand. The growth, 

 both of the tree and of the leaves, is very rapid ; both shoots and leaves 

 being sometimes perfected in three weeks from the time of foliation. The 

 wood weighs, when newly cut, 60 lb. 4 oz. per cubic foot ; and, when dry, 

 35 lb. 7 oz. ; losing, by drying, a sixteenth part of its bulk. It is soft, ami 



