Horse-chestnut
From KeyToNature
Horse-chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)
Horse-chestnut family Hippocastanaceae
Origin: SE. Europe
Description: Tree up to 35m high, with wide-spreading branches. Twigs reddish-brown, with horseshoe-shaped leaf scars. Buds large and sticky. Leaves opposite, palmate, with 5 to 7 leaflets. Leaflets 10-25cm long, ovate but widest above the middle, toothed. Flower spikes conical, up to 30cm long. Flowers 20mm across, with 4 to 5 frilly, recurved petals, the lower two larger than the others, white, with pink and yellow blotches. Fruits 6cm across, the thick spiny, green husk containing several shiny brown seeds.
Comments: Best known for its seeds (conkers).
Similar trees
- Red Horse-chestnut
