HORSE-CHESTNUT FAMILY 



The flower has a tubidar ealyx, four or five white 

 petals, and kjiig thread-like stamens with white fila- 

 ments, which give the whole a singularl}- light and 

 feathery aspect. The flowers are slightly fragrant 

 and attractive to many kinds of insects. There is no 

 great production of nuts ; each spike produces one or 

 two fruiting balls which are smooth outside, not prickly, 

 and each generally contains a single seed. The leaves 

 borne on long and rather slender petioles are of the 

 typical horse-chestnut form ; the five to seven leaflets 

 are oblong-ovate, finely serrate, glabrous above and 

 pubescent beneath. In autumn they become dull yel- 

 low before they fall. 



The plant is a native of the southern states, but is 

 perfectly hardy throughout the north, and is espe- 

 cially valuable for lawn clumps. 



^92 



