BUCKEYE. HORSE CHESTNUT. 



(/EscuLus. ) 



The buckeye and horse chestnut are species of the same 

 genus. The common horse chestnut (/Esculns Jiippocastamun} 

 was once thought to have been a native of Asia, but it is 

 now quite certain that it originated on the mountains of 

 northern Greece. Trees have been cultivated in Europe for 

 at least three centuries and are now extensively grown over 



the United States. The 

 name buckeye is generally 

 applied to such species as are 

 natives of North America. 



The woods resemble one 

 another in that they are 

 soft, straight-grained, easily 

 worked, and decay rapidly 

 when exposed. They are 

 employed to some extent in 

 woodenware, artificial limbs, 

 and paper-making. The trees 

 - may be known by their round 



Horse Chestnut IsEsctihis hippocastanutri). . . 



prickly pods, containing 



smooth chestnut-colored bitter nuts. The leaves of the buckeye 

 are arranged in groups of five, while those of the horse chestnut 

 are in groups of seven. The horse chestnut produces showy 

 spotted flowers. There are thirteen species of this genus, eight 

 of which are North American. The name "horse chestnut" 

 may refer ironically to the coarse nuts, or may arise from the 

 fact that they are occasionally eaten by cattle, or from a horse- 

 shoe marking seen on young twigs. Hippocastanum is from 

 hippos, a horse, and castanea, a chestnut. The name buckeye 

 refers to the appearance of the brown nut through the paler 

 husk partly separated when ripe, suggesting the eye of the 

 common deer. 



96 



