Horse chestnut is a large deciduous Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree with spiky green formal containing a large , egg-shaped brown seed like the nuts ( seeds ) from a buckeye Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . A horse chestnut tree tree is loose to identify in the landscape painting due to its large , rounded leave of absence , white - pinkish flowers grow in cone-shaped clusters , domed crown , and improbable stature . Although too large for most garden , knight chestnut trees are popular in parks and streets .

This clause is a guide to distinguish the magnificent horse chestnut Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . description and painting of the horse chestnut tree tree diagram ’s leave of absence , flowers , and yield will help you recognize these orotund trees in a landscape .

What is a Horse Chestnut Tree?

Horse chestnut is a flowering deciduous tree ordinarily found in parks and open landscape . In the picture : horse chestnut tree in autumn

The horse chestnut ( botanical nameAesculus hippocastanum ) is aspecies of flowering treein the genusAesculus . With its stalwart branches and ellipse to rounded crown , the tree diagram grows 50 to 70 foot . ( 15 – 21 m ) improbable and up to 65 ft . ( 19 m ) panoptic . However , some buck chestnuts can grow up to 130 ft . ( 39 m ) high-pitched .

Horse chestnut tree diagram are aboriginal to southeastern Europe and Asia . However , the ornamental tree grows well in cold , moderate region . It is widely deal throughout North America in residential parkland and city street . In addition , the horse chestnut ’s diffuse canopy take it an ideal shade tree in a large park or open landscape .

The horse chestnut tree is most notable for its inedible seeds ( horse chestnuts)—medium shining browned orchis - like fruits encased in a spiked green shell . In the United Kingdom , the seeds are have a go at it as conkers , and the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is called the buckeye tree . In the US , the cavalry chestnut closely resemble thebuckeye tree(Aesculus glabra ) because they are from the same genus .

Horse chestnut tree trees have a average maturation rate , averaging 13 ” to 24 ” ( 33 – 60 centimeter ) per class . Thedeciduous flowering treethrives in full sun to partial shade and well - drained soil . The hardy tree diagram is suitable for originate in USDA zones 3 through 8 .

Can You Eat Horse Chestnuts?

buck chestnuts ( in the motion-picture show ) are toxic and inedible

horse cavalry chestnut are not edible because they contain toxic chemical compound that can make tummy upset if eaten in large quantity . Eating gymnastic horse chestnut is unlikely to be calamitous , but the result are n’t pleasant . The fleshy brown seeds are also toxic to animals , including detent and buck .

However , the round brown horse chestnuts with their creamy - white flesh are a tasty dainty for cervid . So , if you want toprevent cervid from invading your yardin the fall and winter , it ’s best to remove all fallen horse chestnut sow from the ground .

Horse Chestnut vs. Chestnut

eatable chestnut fruit ( in the picture ) has pointed tip unlike the rounded inedible horse chestnut

Horse chestnut are gentle to discover from unrelated sweet , edible chestnuts(Castanea ) . cavalry chestnut tree look like warty , green testicle sparsely covered in sharp spikes . within is a rounded brown nut with a ointment - tinge scrape . Edible chestnuts are shrewd , spinous bur incase several oval seeds with a flatten out side and pointed end .

The only resemblance uneatable buck chestnut have to mellifluous chestnuts is the colour of the seed . Edible chestnut are tightly packed , with up to seven in a spiny husk . The sweet taste of roasted chestnuts add up from the cure and drying process .

The chief way to tell sweet chestnuts apart from horse chestnuts is by their pointed peak . sawbuck chestnuts are always oval or round without a noticeable apex of the sun’s way or tapering end .

Horse Chestnut vs. Buckeye

Buckeye tree ( in the photo ) is pocket-size than horse chestnut tree and grows between 12 and 40 ft . ( 3.5 – 12 m ) marvelous

The seeds or nuts from the horse chestnut tree tree and the buckeye tree are similar but not superposable . The seeds from both coinage are brown , round to ellipse , with a sheen and whitish ellipse scratch on one close . However , compared to buckeyes , horse chestnuts are the larger variety .

A few identification traits make it possible to differentiate between a buckeye and a horse chestnut Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the landscape painting . First , cavalry chestnut tree leave-taking are rip - shaped , with the tapering oddment at the stalk and more or less pointed tip . Buckeye tree leaves are lance - determine with a pointed acme .

The leaves on both tree diagram are classify as palmately chemical compound , meaning five to seven pamphlet produce on a long stalk .

Also , compared to sawbuck chestnut seed , buckeye nuts have a glistening appearance .

Horse Chestnut Leaves

sawhorse chestnut tree leaves

Horse chestnut tree have light to sinister green palmately compound leaves that have sevenobovate leafletswith a slightly pointed backsheesh , and gently taper to form a narrow base at the prow . The enceinte pamphlet valuate 4 ” to 10 ” ( 10 – 25 cm ) long and grow on long petiole ( stems ) .

Looking at pictures of horse chestnut leave , you ’ll acknowledge their characteristic serrated margins and prominent key midvein and parallel veins . Although have a rounded appearance , horse chestnut tree leaves have a brusk , pointed apex .

Horse chestnut tree leaves emerge light fleeceable in former spring , and the tree is one of the first to leaf out in the landscape painting . The palmate compound farewell step by step bend dark green before turning golden chicken or bronze - brown in the fall .

Horse Chestnut Flower

gymnastic horse chestnut tree peak

sawbuck chestnut trees have saltation flowering white - pinkish peak that farm in upright triangular panicle ( clustering ) at the ends of limb . Each individual horse chestnut flower has four or five fuse white petals with a pinkish or orangish base . Each pyramidical clustering grow between 5 ” and 12 ” ( 10 – 30 curium ) tall .

When in bloom during mid - natural spring and early summertime , the upward farm flowering horse chestnut terminus clustering wait like candles on the tree diagram . The classifiable showy flowers in a pyramidal form make sawhorse chestnut easy identifiable .

knight chestnut tree leaves and blossom

After the flowers fade , the bloom develop into the characteristic horse chestnut tree fruits .

Horse Chestnut Fruit

buck chestnut yield

yield from the horse chestnut Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree looks like a spiky dark-green clump dangling in clusters from the ends of branches . As the spiked round fruits maturate , the dark-green shell develops brown patch before dropping in the fall . Finally , the soft , duncical stalk opens , give away a shiny mahogany brown nut with a creamy white oval scar .

The horse chestnut tree yield , along with the leathery husk , can measure up to 3 ” ( 7.5 centimetre ) in diameter . The husk splits as the yield matures , revealing one or two horse chestnut or conkers . The inedible brownish ‘ nuts ’ from a horse chestnut tree measure 1 ” to 2 ” ( 2.5 – 5 centimeter ) across .

Horse Chestnut Bark

Horse chestnut tree barque

Bark on the sawbuck chestnut tree diagram is a grayish - fleeceable color that is smooth and bit by bit develops fissure scale . As the tree matures , the trunk grow a distinctive fluted shape , making it count like thick , combine trunk growing together .

Horse Chestnut Tree Identification

place a horse chestnut tree tree by its enceinte palmate leave of absence , upward growing triangular clusters of heyday , and spiky greenish fruit . The distinctive sawhorse chestnut yield is green , with sharp pricker covering the rotund seminal fluid pod . Other easily identifiable features are the horse chestnut tree ’s taper - like prime and drooping obovate leaves .

Types of Horse Chestnut Trees (Pictures) – Identification

There are two primary varieties of horse chestnut tree tree diagram , Aesculus hippocastanumand the ruby buck chestnut treeAesculus carnea .

Horse Chestnut Tree (Aesculus hippocastanum)

Horse chestnut tree ( Aesculus hippocastanum )

The horse cavalry chestnut tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is a sizable ornamental landscape tree with clusters ofwhite flowers , sizeable burry seed seedcase , and huge leaves . The big deciduous tree typically arise around 75 ft . ( 22 m ) tall , with a large , ellipse crown disseminate up to 65 ft . ( 19 m ) wide .

Horse chestnut acquire in USDA zones 3 through 8 . The large landscape painting tree thrive in most filth types if there is excellent drainage . The telling shadiness tree performs well in full Lord’s Day to part shade and is characterise by showy flowers and spiky germ capsules .

Horse Chestnut leave : Leaves on a horse chestnut are easy to identify due to the with child , rounded teardrop - shaped leaflets with serrated margins originate five to seven on a stem .

Horse Chestnut Flowers : Flowers on a gymnastic horse chestnut blush in spring and are upward - pointing cone-shaped clusters of white flush with a hint of pink .

Horse Chestnut Bark : The barque on a knight chestnut tree is smooth , light gray when unripe , and bit by bit get a rough , scaly texture with irregular fissuring .

Horse Chestnut Fruit : The distinctive sawbuck chestnut tree fruits are spiky unripened balls with a green leathery husk covering a unruffled rounded matte browned nut .

Red Horse Chestnut Tree (Aesculus carnea)

cerise Equus caballus chestnut tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ( Aesculus carnea )

A crimson horse chestnut tree is identified as an ornamental deciduoustree with conic clusters of attractive red flush , palmate chemical compound leaf with five leaflet , and small , pear-shaped spiky seed seedpod . The reddened horse chestnut tree tree uprise 30 to 40 ft . ( 9 – 12 megabyte ) magniloquent , and its rounded crest spreads up to 35 ft . ( 10 m ) wide-eyed .

The ruby buck chestnut is a intercrossed tree of theAesculus hippocastanumandAesculus pavia(red buckeye ) . The red horse chestnut is n’t as marvellous as the regular horse chestnut , and it hasdeep red showy flowersrather than white single . Also , compared to the typical horse chestnut Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree fruit , the spiky light-green balls on the red variety are little .

The red horse cavalry chestnut is suitable for growing in USDA zona 5 through 8 . Like most coinage ofAesculus , the leafy flowering tree diagram do well in full sun or fond shadiness . The attractive shade tree grows well in most soil that are well - drained . However , for healthy growth , it ’s lively to forbid the footing from becoming too wry .

When in bloom from late bound through summertime , the beautiful burnished rose-cheeked - red flowers make a striking floral exhibit . The upward pointed flower cone grow abundantly and provide a beautiful contrast with the dark green foliage .

There are a few subtle ways to state a flushed horse chestnut aside from a regular one . First , the red variety has leaves that are more pointed rather than rounded . secondly , there are typically only five leaflets on the palm-shaped chemical compound leave of absence of a red horse cavalry chestnut tree diagram . eventually , in bounce , the crimson flower clusters easily help to place a red Equus caballus chestnut tree .

Red Horse Chestnut bequeath : Leaves on the red sawbuck chestnut tree are lancelike with tapering closing at the stem and pointed tips . The leaf grow palmately , with five cusp value 4 ” to 8 ” ( 10 – 20 centimetre ) imprint a compound leaf .

reddish horse chestnut leave behind

Red Horse Chestnut flower : The distinctive red horse chestnut tree flowers grow in attractive up pointed conic panicle and have a pretty deep red-faced color . The cherry-red , strobile - shaped clustering grow up to 8 ” ( 20 cm ) tall .

reddish horse chestnut flowers

Red Horse Chestnut Bark : The bark on the red cavalry chestnut tree is primarily grayish and smooth . It eventually develops rounded scales separated by shallow fissures give the light-colored grey bark a approximative grain .

Red knight chestnut tree barque

Red Horse Chestnut Fruit : The fruit from a ruby sawbuck chestnut tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is a setaceous capsule measuring 1.5 ” ( 3.8 atomic number 96 ) in diameter stop a shining brown uneatable semen .

Red sawbuck chestnut fruit

Horse Chestnut Growth Rate

It ’s good to remember that horse cavalry chestnut Tree have a average growth rate and wide spreadhead . Growing up to 70 foot . ( 21 m ) tall and 60 foot . ( 18 thousand ) wide means they postulate enough elbow room to acquire . Therefore , the landscape painting tree diagram are not suitable for small to average - sized gardens .

If you need to rise an cosmetic horse cavalry chestnut tree tree , the cerise buck chestnut tree ‘ Briotii ’ is a smaller cultivar . The medium - sized flowering tree diagram grow 25 – 35 ft . ( 7 – 10 mebibyte ) tall . Its rounded crown has lustrous , small leaves and showy dark red flower . The landscape tree is suitable for growing as a expectant lawn Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree or nicety tree diagram .

crimson sawhorse chestnut ‘ Briotii ’ ( in the characterization ) is a low cultivar of knight chestnut tree

How to Grow Horse Chestnut Tree

Horse chestnut trees grow best when grown in full Dominicus or partial shade . The hardy trees thrive in most grease type — loamy , sandy , acidulent , or alkaline . The soil should be keep moist without being too boggy . To boost level-headed growth , adding fertilizer in the spring can boost ground nutritive degree .

Pruning Horse Chestnut Trees

Pruning a horse chestnut tree every fall is a good musical theme if you have one growing in your backyard . You should trim off crossroad or crowding offset and remove low - maturate branch if necessary . you could prune branch every four or five years with elder , mature trees to keep up their form .

Horse Chestnut Seed Propagation – How to Plant Horse Chestnuts Conkers

knight chestnut tree trees are easy to spread from the gravid round brown seed . To develop horse chestnut tree seeds ( conkers ) , pull together some seed in the fall . Put the seeds in a shock of water supply and discard any that float .

Next , put the seeded player that sink in a lot filled with moist pot soil and plant them 2 ” ( 5 cm ) deep before the weather gets insensate . put the pot in a sheltered spot , protected from hard Frost . The seeds need a few month where the temperature is below 50 ° fluorine ( 10 ° C ) to germinate . Keep the soil slenderly moist but not to a fault damp .

If the batch are outside , it ’s also necessary to protect them from deer that care to scrounge for solid food during winter .

When seedlings are at least 1 ft . ( 0.3 m ) tall , you may transplant them to the undercoat .

Pests and Diseases Affecting Horse Chestnut Growth

The horse chestnut leaf mineworker and leaf splotch fungus are the two elementary matter regard the trees .

A smallbrown furry moth(Cameraria ohridella ) put down its eggs inside the horse chestnut tree tree leave . When the larvae appear , thecaterpillarsfeed on the plant tissue , causing unsightly brown blotch to appear on the leaves . A large leafage - excavation moth infestation can turn most parting brown , pretend the leafage come out as if fall has come early .

cavalry chestnut folio mineworker

A fungous disease — Guignardia aesculi — can stimulate leaf blotch on horse chestnut trees . The disease causes yellow - brown blotches to develop . Although the fungal contagion wo n’t pour down the tree , it can give the tree a peaked appearance .

Guignardia aesculi on knight chestnut tree

A more serious disease affecting the health of horse cavalry chestnut Tree is bleed canker sore because of the bacteriumPseudomonas syringaepathovaraesculi . The signs of the potentially fatal disease let in a rust - color sap that seems tobleedfrom the tree diagram ’s offset and trunk .

bleed canker disease

Related articles :