Horse chestnut
Aesculus hippocastanum is the familiar spreading chestnut tree under which the village smithy stood that Longfellow described. The species is native to the Balkans and was introduced in about 1616, under King James 1st (of England).
The association with blacksmiths is due to chemicals extracted from the conkers are used in horse medicine.
The chestnut recorded in old place names is the sweet or Spanish chestnut, Castanea sativa, which might have been native before the last ice-age and might have been (re-)introduced by the Romans.
Horsechestnut has a closely related species which produces the red flowers and hybridises with A.hippocastinum to form the intermediate A.
Horse chestnut produces wood which lasts well even if untreated but it tends to warp. So it’s most common use is for the rails of farmers’ post and rail fencing.
The trees may be attacked by a leaf-miner, a bark canker, a scale insect, and a leaf-blotch fungus.
For more information about the Horse Chestnut go here.
The association with blacksmiths is due to chemicals extracted from the conkers are used in horse medicine.
The chestnut recorded in old place names is the sweet or Spanish chestnut, Castanea sativa, which might have been native before the last ice-age and might have been (re-)introduced by the Romans.
Horsechestnut has a closely related species which produces the red flowers and hybridises with A.hippocastinum to form the intermediate A.
Horse chestnut produces wood which lasts well even if untreated but it tends to warp. So it’s most common use is for the rails of farmers’ post and rail fencing.
The trees may be attacked by a leaf-miner, a bark canker, a scale insect, and a leaf-blotch fungus.
For more information about the Horse Chestnut go here.
