Common name:
Horse chestnut
Family:
Scientific name:
Aesculus hippocastanum
Main flower color:
Range:
All of the British Isles, except the far north of Scotland. An introduced species, though long-established
Height:
Up to 25 m
Habitat:
Woodland, and often planted along roads and in gardens
Flowers:
Four crinkled, hairy petals, white with pink spot below, often yellowish at the base, and eight pendant stamens, which have thick white filaments and orange-brown anthers. The inflorescence is a branched, somewhat elongated cluster, held upright, containing between 20 and 50 flowers
Fruit:
Spiny green capsules containing large brown seeds (conkers)
Leaves:
Palmate, with five or seven obovate leaflets, the largest up to 25 cm in length. Leaflets are hairless, strongly veined, and lined by small, irregular teeth. On stalks of up to 20 cm
Season:
May to June
Rarity:
★★★★★
