Horse Chestnut

Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)

Identification

Large deciduous tree that also goes by the name Buckeye or European horse chestnut. Leaves are opposite, complex, and grow in a palmate pattern; meaning that leaflets are arranged around a central point. Each leaf has five leaflets; these leaflets are large, deeply textured, and paddle-shaped. The margin, or edge, of the leaf has fine but ragged serrations. White flowers in the spring turn into the spiky green balls pictured below. These balls encase the tree’s fruit and reveal a shiny brown nut when opened.

Examples:

Mature leaves of the Horse Chestnut.

NPS Photo/ W. Kaselow

Young leaves of the Horse Chestnut.

Ellen G. Denny, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Flowers of the Horse Chestnut.

Frettie, Wikimedia Commons CC BY 3.0

Fruits of the Horse Chestnut.

NPS Photo/ W. Kaselow

A ripened fruit of the Horse Chestnut.

Dominicus Johannes Bergsma, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Fall coloring of Horse Chestnut leaves.

Tsyganov Sergey, CC BY-SA 4.0