![]() Bulgaria's relict horse chestnut forests are critically endangered at the national level and protected as part of the Dervisha Managed Nature Reserve. It is limited to an area of 9 ha in the Preslav Mountain north of the Balkan Mountains, in the valleys of the Dervishka and Lazarska rivers. The compact native population of horse chestnut in Bulgaria is distinct from the horse chestnut forests of northern Greece, western North Macedonia and Albania. It can be found in many parts of Europe as far north as Harstad north of the Arctic Circle in Norway, and Gästrikland in Sweden as well as in many parks and cities around the northern United States and Canada such as Edmonton in Canada. It has been introduced and planted around the world. A 2017 assessment for the IUCN Red List restricted the native distribution to the Balkan area: Albania, Bulgaria, mainland Greece and North Macedonia. As of March 2023, Plants of the World Online considered it to be native to the Balkans ( Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and former Yugoslavia), but also to Turkey and Turkmenistan. The native distribution of Aesculus hippocastanum given by different sources varies. Īlthough it is sometimes known as buckeye, for the resemblance of the seed to a deer's eye, the term buckeye is more commonly used for New World members of the genus Aesculus. The common name horse chestnut originates from the similarity of the leaves and fruits to sweet chestnuts, Castanea sativa (a tree in a different family, the Fagaceae), together with the alleged observation that the fruit or seeds could help panting or coughing horses. The light green structure denotes nectary. Each conker is 2–4 cm ( 3⁄ 4– 1 + 1⁄ 2 in) in diameter, glossy nut-brown with a whitish scar at the base. ![]() The shell is a green, spiky capsule containing one (rarely two or three) nut-like seeds called conkers or horse-chestnuts. Usually only 1–5 fruits develop on each panicle. Its pollen is not poisonous for honey bees. The flowers are usually white with a yellow to pink blotch at the base of the petals they are produced in spring in erect panicles 10–30 cm (4–12 in) tall with about 20–50 flowers on each panicle. The leaf scars left on twigs after the leaves have fallen have a distinctive horseshoe shape, complete with seven "nails". The leaves are opposite and palmately compound, with 5–7 leaflets 13–30 cm (5–12 in) long, making the whole leaf up to 60 cm (24 in) across, with a 7–20 cm (3–8 in) petiole. On old trees, the outer branches are often pendulous with curled-up tips. : 371 Description Īesculus hippocastanum is a large tree, growing to about 39 metres (128 ft) tall with a domed crown of stout branches. It is not to be confused with the Spanish chestnut, Castanea sativa, which is a tree in another family, Fagaceae. It is also called horse-chestnut, European horsechestnut, buckeye, and conker tree. It is a large, deciduous, synoecious (hermaphroditic-flowered) tree. Aesculus hippocastanum, the horse chestnut, is a species of flowering plant in the maple, soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae.
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