HORSE-CHESTNUT FAMILY 



\vhei"e our natives would die, and the Horse-chestnut is 

 stronger than the Bucke\"e. There is a certain ilelicacy of 

 fibre inseparable from all American native life. Perhaps 

 some day the biologist will read the riddle. 



The Sweet Buckeve. .Esi'n/iis Ociii/i^ira. is a beautiful tree of 

 the AUeghanv Mountains, ranging from I'ennsvlvania to Ala- 

 bama and westwartl to the Indian Territru-v. It reaches its 

 greatest size in 'I'ennessee and Xorth Carolina. Its leaflets 

 are five to seven, dark vellow green and smooth, e.xcept the 

 midrib and venis \\diich are sometimes downv. The flowers 

 are borne in paniclcb five to seven inches long, are yellow, 

 varying from pale to dark. The nuts are large, one and a 

 half to two inches broad, the capsule smor)th. .A variety of 

 this tree, _£. ociaiicira lixbiula, characterized b\' its red or 

 purple flowers, has long been a favorite in gardens, where it 

 often makes a handsome head of pendulous branches. The 

 name Sweet Buckeye means simplv that the bark is less fetid 

 than that of others of the genus. 



HORSE-CHESTNUT 



Hippocaslaniim from hippos, .1 horse, and ,-,is/aih\i a chestnut. 



Cultivated. Introduced into Europe in the seventeenth century. 

 Fa\-oiite tree for p.irks, lawns, and ro.idsides. Roots fleshy; pre- 

 fers a strong, rich soil ; reaches the height of one hundred feet. 



Ba7k. — Dark brown, roughened with small excrescences. or divided 

 by shallow fissures. r>r.nichlets reddish brown, shining, at length 

 dark brown. Abountls in t.innic :icid. teud. 



Wood. — White, fight, soft, close-grained, not durable. 



IVintt-y Buds. — Terminal, large, an inch to an inch and a half long, 

 covered with resinous gum. biown. a\illar\' buds smaller. Scales 

 in pairs, closely imbricated, within are lea\es completelv formed 

 and packed in white tonientum. .Scales enlarge wlien spring growth 

 begins, the inner become yellow green tipped with red. One and 

 a half to two inches long before thex tall. 



Lt-dves. — Opposite, digitately compound. Leaflets seven, obowate, 

 five to seven inches long, wedge-shaped at base, serrate, acute or 



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