Buckeye (Scientific name: Aesculus chinensis Bunge): It is a deciduous tree, up to 25 meters in height, with dark brown or gray-brown bark, twigs, cylindrical, yellow-brown or gray-brown, with pale yellow leather holes. Winter buds are large and resinous. Palmate compound leaves, composed of 5-7 small, dark green above, glabrous, except for the base of middle ribs and lateral veins which are sparsely hairy when tender, the rest are glabrous. The inflorescence is cylindrical, the inflorescences are pubescent, and the inflorescences are usually composed of 5-10 flowers. They are flat and oblique and have pubescence. Flowers heterosexual, male and bisexual flowers in the same plant, calyx tubular bell-shaped, petals 4, white, oblong-ovate to oblong-lanceolate. Fruit spherical or obovate, yellow-brown, thornless, with dense spots. Seeds often develop 1-2 seeds, nearly spherical, chestnut brown; the umbilicus is white, accounting for about 1/2 of the seed volume. Flowering from April to May, and fruit from October.
Aesculus chinensis (variant)
Aesculus chinensis Bunge var. Chekiangeasis (Hu et Fang) Fang, 1960
The
It is cultivated in the Yellow River Basin and eastern provinces of China, and only the Qinling Mountains are wild. It is naturally distributed in mountains below 700 meters above sea level. In the Yellow River Basin, this species has excellent street trees and garden trees. [4]
Hi light, slightly shade-tolerant; warm weather, also cold-resistant; deep, fertile, moist and well-drained soil. Deep rooting, strong germination; medium to slow growth rate, long life. Horse-chestnut leaves are susceptible to sunburn during the hot summer months. [4]
Common pests of horse chestnut are:
The fruits of horse chestnut contain a large amount of saponin, called aescin, which is a toxic substance that destroys red blood cells, but some animals such as deer and squirrel can resist this toxin to eat the fruits of horse chestnut. Some people use their fruits to grind poisonous fish. California horse chestnuts can poison some types of bees because of the toxins in their nectar, but native bees can defend against the toxins. This toxin is not resistant to high temperatures and the starch in the seeds can be eaten after cooking. The seed of Chinese horse chestnut is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, which is called Miluo, so sometimes the Chinese horse chestnut is also called Miluo.
