HORSE-CHESTNUT 



Aescuhu hippoeastanutn L. 



The Buckeye Family 



EIPPOC \sr\N \( km 



Habit and Habitat: A beautiful, coarse tree, reaching a height of 



feet in our state and a trunk diameter of LO-18 inches, the many 



spreading and erect branches and twigs forming a handsome roundish 



or sometimes broadly conical crown; the twigs and spray are thick. 



blunt ami clumsy. Prefers moist, rich soil but may be grown success- 

 fully in many different rit< 



LeaTca and Buds: Leaves opposite, palmately or digitately com- 

 pound; leaflets usually 7. 5-7 inches long, 1-2 inches wide, broad above, 

 wedge-shaped at the base, irregularly and bluntly senate, thick, dark 

 en and rough above, paler beneath, turning rusty yellow or brown 

 in the fall: petioles long, stout, grooved, expanded at the base. Terminal 

 buds 11% inches long, broad, acute, brownish or gray covered with 

 waxy gum, downy in the interior; inner scales yellow, becoming 1 ! 

 inches long in spring, persisting until the leaves are half grown. 



Flowers and Fruits: The flowers are produced in May or June after 

 the leaves and are very shows. Large, irregular, whitish or cream colored, 

 produced in large, many-flowered upright clusters 6-10 inches lomr; 

 calyx bell-shaped, o-lobed; petals 5, white or yellowish, spotted with 

 yellow and red, each with a claw, i. e., with a narrow stalk-like ba 

 stamens 7, thread-like, extending beyond the flower. Fruit ripening in 

 late summer or early fall, a brownish leathery, globular pod, 1-2 inches 

 in diameter, covered with scattered, short spines, containing 1-3 large, 

 smooth, shining, brown nuts. 



Bark, Twigfl and Wood: The bark on the twigs is smooth and 

 reddish-brown, shiny, on the large branches and main trunk the bark is 

 thick, dark brown and broken into thin plates by shallow fissures, be- 

 coming more or less scaly, or roughened with small excrescences, abounds 

 in tannic acid and is fetid. The wood is white, light, soft, close-grained. 

 ak, not durable in contact with the soil, of little value except for fuel. 



Distribution in the State: This tree is a native of Greece and from 

 thence it was introduced into Europe in the seventeenth century win 

 it has been widely naturalized as a favorite tree for parks, lawns, 

 and roadsides. It is extensively planted in America also where it is 

 popular BI a street and lawn tree and as such it is occasionally seen in 

 item Nebraska. 



Remarks: The horse-chestnut standing alone, with plenty of room 



on all side.-, attain.- a natural form which is very attractive and effective. 



The trunk is short and erect and the brandies originate with such 



ilarity that it develop- a superb rounded or conical crown. The 



lar. ily buds are particularly noticeable. The flowers of the tree are 



and the flower (dusters very nromincnt BO that a large tree in full 



| nificent sight. The popular notion that the lar. 



chestnut-brown nut | the DOWer to cure rheumatism if carried 



the unfortunate sufferer from the disease is not at all supported by 



The tree is subject to a number of dif which attack the 



and often produce unsightly conditions. 



— 147 



