HORSE CHESTNUT. 349 
imperfect pistils, and only those near the base of the branches 
of the inflorescence perfect and fertile; calyx tubular, five-lobed, 
often oblique or swollen at the base; petals four or five; more 
or less unequal with claws; stamens five to eight; ovary three- 
celled with two ovules in each cell. Fruit a roundish leathery 
pod, three-celled and three-seeded or usually by suppression one 
or two-celled and one or two-seeded, the remnants of the 
abortive cells and seeds commonly visible in the ripened pods, 
seeds one to one and one-half inches broad, with a hard chestnut 
brown coat; embryo filling the seed; cotyledons very thick and 
fleshy. The large seeds of both species contain a large amount 
of starch, but present with it is a bitter principle, esculine, which 
renders them unfit for food for man, although they are some- 
times fed to sheep, goats and swine. This bitter principle may 
be removed by repeated washings in pure water, and were it 
not for the cost of the operation the nuts could be made a 
valuable food for man. 
Propagation.—Both species here described are easily propa- 
gated by seeds, which should generally be sown in autumn, 
for they soon lose their vitality; also, by layers made in spring 
or fall. The varieties may be grown by grafting. 
4##sculus hippocastanum. Horse Chestnut. 
Leaves made up of five to seven (generally seven) leaflets. 
Inflorescence large and conspicuous. Petals five, spreading, 
white, spotted with purple and yellow. A large tree, with round 
top, large sticky buds and very dense foliage. 
Distribution—Europe and Asia. 
Propagation.—Described under genus. 
Propertics of wood.—Light, soft, easily worked, light-colored, 
not durable in contact with the soil. 
Uses—The Horse Chestnut is used in the Eastern and 
Central states as a shade tree. It is not sufficiently hardy for 
general planting in this state, and should never be used except 
in very favorable locations in southern Minnesota. The bark 
has been used in tanning and as a substitute for cinchona in 
the treatment of fevers and in homeopathic remedies. 
