Common name: Horse Chestnut
Scientific name: Aesculus hippocastanum
Family: Hippocastanaceae
Origin: non-native
Mature horse chestnut trees grow to a height of around 40m and can live for up to 300 years. The bark is smooth and pinky-grey when young, which darkens and develops scaly plates with age. Twigs are hairless and stout; buds are oval, dark red, shiny and sticky.
Once pollinated by insects, each flower develops into a glossy red-brown conker inside a spiky green husk, which falls in autumn.
Identified in winter by: twigs which have large, sticky red buds.
What does the Horse Chestnut look like?
Leaves
The palmate leaves comprise 5–7 pointed, toothed leaflets spreading from a central stem.
Flowers
Appearing in May, individual flowers have 4–5 fringed petals, which are white with a pink flush at the base.
Fruits
Once pollinated by insects, each flower develops into a glossy red-brown conker inside a spiky green husk, which falls in autumn.
