Hippocastanaceae

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Read about Hippocastanaceae in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Hippocastanaceae (from the genus Hippocastanum, the old generic name of the genus Aesculus, derived from the Greek meaning horse and chestnut). Horse-Chestnut Family. Fig. 35. Trees or shrubs: leaves opposite, exstipulate, palmately 3-9-foliate: flowers, some bisexual, some staminate, irregular; sepals 5, separate or connate, imbricated; petals 4-5, unequal, clawed; stamens 5-8, separate; disk present, extra-staminal, often inequilateral; ovary 3-celled; ovules 2 in each cell; style and stigma 1: fruit usually 1-celled and 1-seeded, capsular, 3-valved; seeds very large, exalbuminous. There are 2 genera and 22 species of general distribution in the north temperate zone. The family is closely related to the Sapindaceae, with which it is often united, and from which it differs only in its larger flowers, palmately compound leaves and large seeds. The Hippocastanaceae, Sapindaceae, Melianthaceae, and some Aceraceae are almost the only plants with extra-staminal disks. The horse-chestnut (Aesculus Hippocastanum) is a well-known shade tree, said to have been introduced into Europe by Clusius in 1575. The seeds, rich in starch, have been used for fodder. They have also been used to form the principal part of a certain kind of snuff, and the oil contained has been used to a slight extent in medicine. The roots of Aesculus contain saponin and have been used, like soapberry, for washing. Several species of Aesculus are in cultivation in N. America. A. glabra and A. octandra, natives of the central United States, are called buckeyes. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Gallery

If you have a photo of this plant, please upload it! Plus, there may be other photos available for you to add.

• 

  photo 1

• 

  photo 2

• 

  photo 3

References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Hippocastanaceae. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Hippocastanaceae QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)