- Aesculus parviflora
- North America
Genus
Aesculus - Carl von Linné (Swedish naturalist) introduced the genus Aesculus for horse chestnut. Both the horse chestnut and the sweet chestnut are often referred to colloquially as chestnuts. This goes back to the Latin word castanea. In arboriculture, castanea refers to the sweet chestnut or chestnut tree.
However, the horse chestnut is not related to the sweet chestnut. The horse chestnut belongs to the horse chestnut family, while the sweet chestnut belongs to the beech family.
It is a deciduous, popular ornamental and shade tree, a huge avenue, park and courtyard tree, up to 30 meters high and 25 meters wide. The genus comprises 25 species, from large trees to sprawling shrubs. There are white, yellow and red-flowered species, which are a bee pasture depending on their color.
In folk medicine, there were and are various areas of application, for example against skin diseases or for venous disorders.
The wood of the horse chestnut is used, for example, in the manufacture of kitchen furniture or can be used for carving.
As a popular urban tree, the horse chestnut is particularly exposed to air pollution and soil-related damaging factors, as well as damage caused by road salt, which can prevent plants from absorbing water. Damage is also caused by fungal infestation and the horse chestnut leaf miner.
Information on the species
Aesculus parviflora - The word parviflora means small-flowered. The shrub chestnut is also known as spiked pavia. It is a spreading bush up to five meters high, dense, spherical in habit and a deciduous shrub that spreads by ground runners.
Leaves: compound, palmate to 20 centimetres long; five to seven-parted, shoots bright red, golden yellow in autumn.
Flowers: white, upright, conical, upright panicles up to 30 centimetres long; a valuable, striking summer bloomer.
Fruits: small, brown-ovoid, smooth, in green-brown pods without spines.
Characteristics: adaptable, frost-hardy, resistant to urban climates, thrives in locations in sun to partial shade, but also in the shade, making it a particularly striking design element in parks, with shrubs, groups of trees, individual trees and solitary plants.