Horse-chestnut - Aesculus hippocastanum

Alternative names
Horse Chestnut
Description

Large tree to 25 metres. Buds large, deep brown and sticky. Leaves pinnate with 5 to 7 leaflets, coarse toothed. Flowers white each of the 4 petals with a yellow or pink blotch at the base 9 to 11 mm in large erect conical panicles. Fruit globose up to 6 cm yellowish green when ripe, spiny splitting to reveal 1 or 2 shiny brown seeds (conkers).

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Open wooded areas.

When to see it

May and June.

Life History

Deciduous.

UK Status

Common in Britain though slightly less so in Scotland

VC55 Status

Quite common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 417 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Horse Chestnut, Horse-chestnut
Species group:
Trees, Shrubs & Climbers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Sapindales
Family:
Sapindaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
253
First record:
21/09/1998 (Anthony Fletcher)
Last record:
13/03/2024 (Pugh, Dylan)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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