CHAP. XXIII. 



.ESCULA^CEiE. .^'SCULUS. 



463 



a chestnut, is said by some to have been given to this tree ironically, tlie nuts, though tliey have 

 the appearance of sweet chestnuts, being only fit for horses ; and by others, because, ni I urkey, it 

 is said the nuts are used for curing horses of pulmonary diseases. According to Evelyn, they are 

 also given in England to horses that are broken-winded, and to other cattle that have coughs 

 and colds. 



Descrij^tion. All the species (except one, which is a shrub) are deciduous 

 trees, with deeply cut leaves, and showy flowers; and they are distinguished from 

 the genus Pavk by the roughness of their fruit, and by the comparative rough- 

 ness', also, of their leaves. To us it appears doubtful if the roughness of the 

 fruit be a sufficient generic distinction, since it varies much in dlfterent indi- 

 viduals, and since, in some of the sorts, which have apparently been originated 

 between ^'sculus and Pav/a, the fruit is as smooth, or nearly as much so, as in 

 the proper pavias. It is highly probable that the two genera consist, in fact, 

 of only two, or at most three, distinct species: however, all the different sorts 

 in cultivation are so truly ornamental, that they may very conveniently be 

 kept distinct, as races or botanical species. The common horsechestnut is 

 invariably propagated by the nuts, which are sown when newly gathered,_or 

 in the following spring; and in either case they will come up the succeeding 

 summer. All the other sorts, as being varieties of the species, are propagated 

 by budding or grafting. 



S 1. M. Hippoca'stanum L. The common Horsechestnut. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 488. ; WiUd. Baum., p. 14. ; Hayne Dend., p. 43. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p 597. ; 



and Don's Mill., 1. p. 652. . „ , ■ ^ 



Stinonvmes. Hippocastanum vulgare Tourn. ; Marronier d'Inde, Fr. ; gemenie Rosskastanie, Ger 

 Kngravlags. Woodv. Med. Bot, t. 128. ; Plenck Icon., t. 293. ; Willd. Abbild.. t. 40.; and the plate 



of this species in our Second Volume. 



Spec. Char., ^'c Leaflets 7, obovately cuneated, acute, and toothed. A tree, 

 growing to the height of 50 ft. or 60 ft., in cultivation since 1629, and flow- 

 ering in May. 



Varieties, . 



*t M. H.2 flore jyl^no- The donble-Jlowered Horsechestnut. — This va- 

 riety is recorded in nurserymen's catalogues, but is not common, 

 M.H.^ variegcita. The variegated-leaved Horsechestnut. — The leaves 

 are blotched with yellow, or yellowish white, but they have a ragged 

 and unhealthy appearance, and are by no means ornamental. 

 Description. A tree of the largest size, with an erect trunk, and a pyra- 

 midal head. The leaves are large, of a deep green colour, and singularly in- 

 teresting and beautiful when they are first developed. When enfolded in the 

 bud, they are covered with pubescence, which falls off as the leaves become 

 expanded, sooner or later, according to the dryness or moistness of the 

 season. The growth, both of the tree and of the leaves, is very rapid ; both 

 shoots and leaves being sometimes perfected in three weeks from the time 

 of foliation; in which time, says Miller, I have measured shoots U ft. long, 

 with their leaves fully expanded. The flowers appear a short time after the 

 leaves, and are white, variegated with red and yellow : they expand in May, 

 and the fruit ripens about the end of September or the beginning of October. 

 It is allowed to fall from the tree ; but, if wanted for seed, must be soon after- 

 wards gathered up, and either sown, or mixed with earth ; because, if exposed 

 to the'' atmosphere, it will lose its germinating faculties in a month. {Bau- 

 drillart.) The buds are covered with a gummy substance, which protects their 

 downy' interior from the wet. Miss Kent observes that " we cannot have 

 a better specimen of the early formation of plants in the bud, than in that of 

 the horsechestnut." A celebrated German naturalist detached from this tree, 

 in the winter season, a flower bud not larger than a pea, and first took off the 

 external covering, which he found consisted of seventeen scales. Having re- 

 moved these scales, and the down which formed the internal covering of the 

 bud he discovered four branch leaves surrounding a spike of flowers, the latter 

 of which were so distinctly visible, that, with the aid of a microscope, he not 

 only counted 68 flowers, but could discern the pollen of the stamens, and 

 perceive that some was opaque, and some transparent. This experiment 



K K 



