138 HIPPOCASTANACE^. ^scvlus. 



Order XXXII. HIPPOCASTANACEJE. DC. The Horse-chestnut Tribe. 



Calyx of 5 united sepals. Petals usually 4, sometimes 5, irregular, unguiculate, 

 hypogynous. Stamens 6-8 (mostly 7), distinct, unequal, inserted on the 

 hypogynous disk : anthei's oval. Ovary composed of 3 united carpels, 3- 

 celled, with 2 collateral ovules in each cell : style filiform, acute. Fruit 

 roundish, coriaceous, dehiscent, 3- (or, by abortion, 1 - 2-) celled, 2 - 3-valved, 

 loculicidal. Seeds 1-3, very large, w^ith a smooth shining coriaceous testa 

 and a broad pale hilum : albumen none. Cotyledons very thick and fleshy, 

 cohering : radicle conical, curved : plumule large, 2-leaved. — Trees or shrubs, 

 ■^ith opposite digitate (rarely alternate and pinnate) leaves, without stipules. 

 Flowers showy, in large panicles or racemes : pedicels articulated. 



1. ^SCULUS. Linn.; Endl. gen. 564:1. HORSE CHESTNUT. 



[An ancient Latin name, originally applied to a species of oak.] 



Sepals united into a 5-toolhed, campanulate or tubular calyx. Petals 4-5, more or less 

 unequal. — Leaves palmately 5 - 7-foliolate : leaflets simply pinnately veined. Flowers in 

 terminal thyrsoid racemes or panicles. 



1. yEscuLus HippocASTANUM, Liun. Common Hoise Chestnut. 



Fruit echinate ; flowers with 5 petals and 7 stamens ; leaflets 7, obovate-cuneate, acute, 

 toothed.^ DC prodr. 1. p. 597. 



A tree with smooth bark and a large round head. Leaflets irregularly and doubly toothed ; 

 veins on the underside clothed with a brown wool. Flowers large, white spotted with purple 

 and yellow. Ovary stipitate. Fruit abounding in starch, bitter and somewhat poisonous. 



About houses. A native of northern India. Flowers early in May. 



