SAPINDACEAE 



Horse-chestnut 



Acsculus hippocastanum, L. 



HABIT. A handsome tree, with a height of 40-60 feet and 

 a trunk diameter of 1-2 feet, forming a broad, conical crown. The 

 regularly occurring branches ascend from the trunk at first, 

 gradually bend downwards as they lengthen, and end in a thick, 

 upturning spray. 



LEAVES. Opposite, digitately compound. Leaflets usually 

 7, rarely 5, 5-7 inches long. 1^-2^2 inches broad; obovate, wedge- 

 shaped at the base ; irregularly and bluntly serrate ; thick ; rough, 

 dark green above, paler beneath, turning a rusty yellow in 

 autumn. Petioles long, grooved, swollen at the base. 



FLOWERS. May- June, after the leaves; polygamo- 

 monoecious; large, whitish, in 'showy, upright, terminal thyrses 

 8-12 inches long; pedicels jointed, 4-6-flowered ; calyx campan- 

 ulate, 5-lobed; petals 5, white, spotted with yellow and red, 

 clawed; stamens 7, thread-like, longer than the petals. 



FRUIT. October ; a leathery, globular capsule about 2 

 inches in diameter, roughened with short spines; containing 1-3 

 large, smooth, lustrous, brown nuts, marked by large, pale scars. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal buds i-i^ inches long, acute, 

 brownish, covered with glistening, resinous gum; inner scales 

 yellowish, becoming 1^2-2 inches long in spring, remaining until 

 the leaves are nearly half grown. 



BARK. Twigs smooth, red-brown ; trunk d-ark brown and 

 broken into thin plates by shallow fissures; rich in tannin, bitter. 



WOOD. Light, soft, close-grained, weak, whitish, with thin, 

 light brown sapwood. 



NOTES. A native of Greece, extensively cultivated 

 throughout Europe and America, where it is a favorite shade 

 tree. A double flowered variety, Aesculus hippocastanum, v. 

 fibre plena, which bears no fruit is a common garden form. 

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