1. Aesculus L. Sp. Pl. 344. 1753
Description
This section is from the book "An Illustrated Flora Of The Northern United States, Canada And The British Possessions Vol2", by Nathaniel Lord Britton, Addison Brown. Also available from Amazon: An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 Volume Set..
1. Aesculus L. Sp. Pl. 344. 1753
Characters of the family. [Ancient name.l Type species: Ae. Hippocastanum L.
Capsules spiny, at least when young; stamens exserted. | ||
1. | Ae. Hippocastanum. | |
Flowers yellow or greenish-yellow; native. | ||
A tree; leaflets 5-7, pubescent. | 2. | Ae. glabra. |
A shrub; leaflets 7-9, glabrate. | 3. | Ae. arguta. |
Capsule glabrous; stamens scarcely exceeding the petals. | ||
Corolla yellow, greenish or purplish; calyx oblong; a large tree. | 4. | Ae. octandra. |
Corolla red: calyx tubular; shrubs or small trees. | 5. | Ae. Pavia. |
1. Aesculus Hippocāstanum L. Horse-Chestnut
Fig. 2815
Aesculus Hippocastanum L. Sp. Pl. 344. 1753.
A large tree, reaching a maximum height of about 100° and a trunk diameter of 6°, the buds very resinous. Leaves long-petioled, pubescent when young, glabrate when mature, or with persistent tufts of hairs in the axils of the veins on the lower surface; leaflets 5-7 (occasionally only 3 on some leaves), obovate, 4'-8' long, abruptly acuminate at the apex, cuneate-narrowed to the base, irreguarly crenulate-dentate; petals 5, spreading, white, blotched with red and yellow, inflorescence rather dense, often 1° long, the pedicels and calyx canescent; stamens declined, exserted; fruit globose, prickly.
Escaped from cultivation, New England, New York and New Jersey. Native of Asia. Called also Bongay, and the fruit, in children's games, Conquerors. Lambs. June-July.
2. Aesculus Glabra Willd. Fetid Buckeye Ohio Buckeye
Fig. 2816
Aesculus glabra Willd. Enum. 405. 1809.
A tree, with maximum height of about 750 and trunk diameter of 2°, the bark rough and fetid. Leaves long-petioled; leaflets 5, rarely 7, 3-6' long, oval, oblong or lanceolate, acuminate, narrowed at the base, glabrous or slightly pubescent on the veins beneath, finely and sharply serrate, short-stalked or at first sessile; inflorescence loose, pubescent, 4'-6' long; flowers pale yellow; calyx campanulate; petals 4, parallel. 5"-7" long, slightly unequal, their claws about equalling the calyx-lobes; stamens curved, ex-serted; fruit 1'-1 1/2' in diameter, very prickly when young, becoming smoothish at maturity.
Woods, Pennsylvania to Alabama, west to Michigan, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Wood soft, white, the sap-wood slightly darker; weight per cubic foot 28 lbs. Timber used for artificial limbs and a variety of wooden-ware articles. American horse-chestnut. April-May.
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