Horse
Chestnut
Plant
Poisonous to Cats
Common
name: Horse chestnut.
Botanical name: Aesulus hippocastanum (Hippocastanaceae)
Family: Horse chestnuts are classified in the division Magnoliophyta
, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Hippocastanallae.
Origin: A native of the Balkan peninsula (Greece-Albania),
it is now cultivated in many countries for shade and ornament. Other
members of the family are native trees and shrubs of the north temperate
zones and of South America.
Description: It can reach 30 meters tall, and has striking
candles of blooms in spring and early summer. Individual flowers
have crumpled white petals with a yellow basal patch that changes
to a dull red colour. The fruit has a lathery cae covered with short
pickles. The seed are used to play conkers.
Uses: Horse chestnuts and buckeyes (a similar but often smaller
North American species of the same genus) somewhat resemble true
chestnuts in appearance but are edible only after careful preparation.
The wood of the horse chestnut is soft and has been used for paper
pulp and carpentry, woodenware, and other similar purposes. A compound
derived from horse chestnut, aesculin, is a pharmaceutical agent
used as an astringent and anti-inflammatory.
There is an unproven believe that Horse Chestnut increases the strength
& tone of the veins in particular, so it is often used to treat
phlebitis, varicose veins, and haemorrhoids.
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