Common Horse Chestnut
Arbor walk #64, Treekeeper ID #5490
Despite being widely planted as an easy-to-grow shade tree for streets and landscapes throughout the Midwest, the Common Horse Chestnut is originally native to the Balkan region of Europe. The tree features showy white flowers in spring which in summer transition into fruit, consisting of one or two seeds encased in a spiny husk.
Horse Chestnuts are actually part of the soapberry family and are entirely unrelated to chestnuts, which are part of the beech family. Like the closely related buckeyes, the fruit of these trees is not edible and is poisonous. On this particular specimen one can see the remains of an invasive Euonymus vine which had been growing on the tree. It is not uncommon to see many of these vines wrapped around the surface of a tree causing damage to the tree and its bark; however, in this instance the Euonymus vine fully pierced through the heartwood at the base of the tree. Despite this, the tree recovered speedily once the vine was killed.
| Common Name | Common Horse Chestnut, European Horse Chestnut |
|---|---|
| Latin Name | Aesculus hippocastanum |
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