Aesculus

The genus Aesculus (pronounced /ˈɛskjʊləs/ or /ˈaɪskjʊləs/) comprises 13-19 species of woody trees and shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere, with 6 species native to North America and 7-13 species native to Eurasia; there are also several hybrids.

Species are deciduous or evergreen. This genus has traditionally been treated in the ditypic family Hippocastanaceae along with Billia, but recent phylogenetic analysis of morphological and molecular data has led to this family, along with the Aceraceae (Maples and Dipteronia), being included in the soapberry family (Sapindaceae).

Linnaeus named the genus Aesculus after the Roman name for an edible acorn. The Eurasian species are known as horse chestnuts while the North American species are called buckeyes.

Some are also called white chestnut or red chestnut (as in some of the Bach flower remedies). In Britain, they are sometimes called conker trees because of their link with the game of conkers, played with the seeds, also called conkers.

Aesculus species are woody plants from 4 to 36m tall (depending on species), and have stout shoots with resinous, often sticky, buds; opposite, palmately divided leaves, often very large (to 65 cm across in the Japanese horse chestnut Aesculus turbinata).

Flowers are showy, insect-pollinated, with four or five petals fused into a lobed corolla tube, arranged in a panicle inflorescence.

Flowering starts after 80–110 growing degree days. The fruit matures to a capsule (fruit), 2–5 cm diameter, usually globose, containing 1-3 seeds (often erroneously called a nut (fruit)) per capsule. Capsules containing more than one seed result in seeds being flat on one side.

The point of attachment of the seed in the capsule (hilum) shows as a large circular whitish scar. The capsule epidermis has "spines" (botanically: prickles) in some species, other capsules are warty or smooth; capsule splits into three sections to release the seeds.



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesculus



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