i^sculus 



221 



^SCULUS TURBINATA, Japanese Horse-Chestnut 



Aisctdus turbinata, Blume, Rwnphia, iii. 195 (1847); Andre, Revue Horticole, 1888, p. 496, 

 figs. 120-124; Bean, Gard. Chron. 1897, xxii. 156, and 1902, xxxi. 187, fig. 58; Shirasawa, 

 Icon. Essences Forestiires du Japofi^ text 113, t. 71, ff. 16-28. 



^sculus chinensis, Masters {no7i Bunge), Gard. Chro?i. 1889, v. 716. fig. 116. 



A tree attaining in Japan, according to Sliirasawa, 100 feet in height and 20 feet 

 in girth of stem. Bark thick and scaly. Leaves resembling those of the common 

 horse-chestnut, but much larger, mainly differing in the serration, which is finely 

 crenate. Leaflets five to seven, sessile, obovate-cuneate, occasionally as much as 

 15 inches long, abruptly acuminate, pubescent beneath. The terminal leaflet has 

 fifteen to twenty-two pairs of nerves. Petiole remaining pubescent towards the tip. 

 Panicles 6 to 10 inches long, dense, somewhat narrow. Flowers yellowish- white, 

 smaller than those of ^sculus Hippocastanum. Fruit slightly pear-shaped, \\ to 2 

 inches in diameter, four to five on a verrucose rhachis, brown, warty, without spines ; 

 valves three, thick ; seeds usually two. 



Identification 



In summer only liable to be confused with the European species, from which it 

 is distinguished by the character of the serration of the leaflets. In winter the twigs 

 closely resemble those of that species, but are not so stout ; they are similarly 

 pubescent towards the tip, and are marked with smaller but similar five to seven 

 dotted leaf-scars. Buds smaller, equally viscid, the scales, however, not being 

 uniform in colour, but partly light chestnut brown and partly dark brown. Pith 

 large, irregularly circular in cross-section, and yellowish in tint. 



Distribution 



The tree is known in Japan as Tochinoki, and is common in the forests at 

 1500 to 5500 feet elevation in the mountains of the main island, descending to lower 

 levels in Yezo. It is recorded by Debeaux, Fl. Shanghai, 22, from the provinces 

 of Kiangsu and Chekiang ; but no one else has seen the tree in China, and 

 Debeaux's identification is probably incorrect. 



The exact date of the introduction of the tree into Europe is uncertain, but it is 

 supposed to be about thirty years ago. It has often passed under the name of 

 yEsculus chinensis, an entirely different species. It first produced fruit in 1888 

 in the arboretum at Segrez in France. It flowered in 1901 at Coombe Wood. 

 As only small trees are known to exist in England, the hardiness of the tree 

 and its suitability for garden decoration are as yet unproved ; but at Tortworth 

 it is growing vigorously, and has ripened its buds well whilst still quite small ; 



