ABSTRACT
Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) probably originated in the Hi malayas or northern Persia from where the tree was imported to Europe by Turkish merchants in the 1500s (Bombardelli et al., 1996). Today, the tree grows throughout the United States, Europe, and in most countries world wide. Horse chestnut is often found as an ornamental in parks, along boule vards, and in gardens. The fruits are tough and leathery, slightly larger than golf balls, and contain one to three seeds (nuts). Horse chestnut is a large de ciduous tree that reaches a height of 39 m and is recognizable by its smooth gray bark which becomes scaly with age. The leaves are dark green above and light green below, born on long stalks in an opposite arrangement, with palmately compound leaflets up to 23 cm long. The showy yellow or redspotted creamγ-white flowers are born May through June on erect 20-38 cm terminal clusters resembling candelabras. The flowers are somewhat bilat eral, sometimes staminate, with five sepals that are free or fused into a tube. The flowers have four to five petals and are unequal and clawed, with five to eight stamens and three ovary chambers (with generally two ovules per chamber). The prickly green seedpods are produced in autumn when they split open to release one to three large, shiny seeds (nuts) (Dobelis, 1986; Hickman, 1993; Bombardelli et al., 1996).
