Aesculus Hippocastanum L

Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group

Tree factsheet images at pages 3, 4, 5

Aesculus hippocastanum L. taxonomy author, year Linnaeus 1753 synonym Family Hippocastanaceae Eng. Name Horse chestnut, Buckeye Dutch name Witte Paardenkastanje subspecies varieties hybrids Aesculus x carnea ( A. pavia x A. hippocastanum ) cultivars, frequently used (7e rassenlijst Bomen) ‘Baumannii’ street and park tree ‘Pyramidalis’ street and park tree

references Hiemstra, J.A. 2002. Rassenlijst Bomen Fontaine, F.J. 1990. Het geslacht Aesculus Boeijink, D.E. et al. 1992. Loofbomen in en buiten het bos

morphology crown habit tree, round max. height (m) 25 (-30) max. dbh (cm) 300 actual size Great Britain actual size Germany actual size Netherlands year 1830-1840, d(130) 258, h 18 year 1600-1700, d(130) 204, h 27, Weesp, Noord Holland leaf length (cm) 25-40 leaf petiole (cm) 20 leaf colour upper surface dark green leaf colour under surface light green leaves arrangement opposite flowering May flowering plant monoecious flower hermaphrodite flower diameter (cm) 1 pollination bumble bees; genus Bombus fruit; length burr (Dutch: bolster) containing 1 nut (Eng.: conker); 4-5 cm fruit petiole (cm) ? seed; length nut (conker); 3-4 cm seed-wing length (cm) - weight 1000 seeds (g) 13.000-20.000 seeds ripen October seed dispersal rodents?: Apodemus species ?

habitat natural distribution Bulgaria, Albania, Greece in N.W. Europe since 1629 (England) natural areas The Netherlands not an indigenous tree, sometimes spontaneous in forests geological landscape types The Netherlands (Hoek 1997) forested areas The Netherlands not a forest tree, occasionally planted as an ornamental area Netherlands - % of forest trees in the Netherlands - soil type sand, loam, clay pH-KCl acid to neutral soil fertility nutrient rich light highly shade tolerant as a sapling; shade tolerant when mature shade tolerance 3.4 (0=no tolerance to 5=max. tolerance) drought tolerance 2.8 (0=no tolerance to 5=max. tolerance) waterlogging tolerance 1.4 (0=no tolerance to 5=max. tolerance) plant communities in the Netherlands Querco-Fagetea (klasse der Eiken-Beukenbossen op voedselrijke grond): -Fraxino-ulmetum (Essen-Iepenbos)

management status Europe frequent, exotic species in urban environment statusThe Netherlands frequent, exotic species in urban environment application street tree, ornamental propagation seed; named cultivars by grafting regeneration planting; natural regeneration from seed optimal gap size for regeneration 1x tree length first plantation Netherlands - resprouting after cutting good growth rate (M.A.I. in m 3ha -1j-1) fast (data unknown) diseases Guignardia aesculi , fungus on leaf (bladverbruining); Verticillium dahliae , wilt disease (verwelkingsziekte); Pseudomonas syringae , bacterium (bloedingsziekte) insects Cameraria ohridella , leaf-mining Lepidopter (Kastanje mineermot); Pulvinaria regalis , aphid (Koningsdopluis, can cause “roetdauw”)

wood wood Horse Chestnut (Dutch: geen handelsnaam) wood structures key characteristics of pores Diffuse porous; uniserate rays; vessels with spiral thickenings vol. mass heartwood (kg/m3) ? (12% moisture content) elastic modulus (N/mm 2) ?

durability heartwood fungus 5 heartwood color white to light-yellow sapwood color white to light-yellow contents products cutlery, toys, paper pulp, occasionally for furniture

non-timber products fruit not edible, poisonous for humans and mammals medical uses against breathing problems with horses

Ülo Niinemets and Fernando Valladares. 2006. Tolerance to shade, drought, and waterlogging of temperate Northern Hemisphere trees and shrubs. Ecological Monographs 76:521–547

winter twig showing buds, leaf marks and vessel marks