TREES AND SHRUBS 



beauty, and a joy for ever." It thrives best in a rich loamy soil in level, 

 well sheltered situations. It is easily raised from seed. 



Flowers white, tinged with crimson, dotted with yellow ; irregular, 

 entomophilous, proterogynous ; InHoreseenec a thyrsus, upper Mowers usually 

 males, lower hermaphrodite ; Calyx 5-lobed ; Petals 5 ; Stamens 7, curved, 

 inserted on a fleshy disk ; Ovary «3-celled, style long, curved, glabrous ; 

 Fruit a .'J-valved capsule, thick, leathery, spinous, usually containing two 

 dark-red glossy seeds ; produced after twenty years. 



Leaves opposite, compound, digitate, petiolate, exstipulate ; leaflets 

 usually 7, obovately cuneate, acuminate, unequally serrated, thin, downy 

 in young stage, disarticulating from the rachis, at times 1 ft. long ; leaves 

 sometimes 1 ft. across, usually lying somewhat horizontally. Autumn tints 

 yellow, orange, golden-brown. 



A deciduous tree, 80-100 ft. ; Branches in opposite pairs, curving down- 

 wards, the extremities curling upwards in winter ; Trvigs very stout, smooth ; 

 Bark greenish-grey, somewhat smooth and flaking, bitter, used for tanning 

 and yellow dye ; Trunk sometimes twisted ; Buds ovoid-acute, reddish- 

 brown, covered with thick coat of varnish ; scales are modified petioles ; 

 Leaf-scars like a horse-shoe with nails ; Wood soft, weak ; used for packing- 

 cases, blind-wood, and moulds. 



A native of Greece, Persia, and N. India ; introduced about 1550 ; lives 

 to about 200 years. 



Foliage subject to Horse-Chestnut Leaf-spot (Septoria Hippocastani) ; 

 timber bored by larva of Wood Leopard Moth (Zeuzera cesculi, Z. 

 pyrin a). 



SMOOTH-FRUITED HORSE-CHESTNUT, JEsmlus parvifiora. 



Gardens. Prefers moist situation, and thrives well in strong, clay soil. 



July, August. 



Flowers white, in a long dense thyrsus ; Calyx tubular, obconical ; Petals 



4, nearly similar, erect, narrow, claws long ; Stamens 6-7, three times as 



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