The beauty of chestnuts (Aesculus sp.)

 

In the center of Dimitrovgrad, near the Preobrazhensky Orthodox Church, there is a park of Spirituality. The park itself is small, there are benches along the paths, a fountain in the middle, nothing special. The main attraction are the big, tall horse chestnut trees with a powerful spreading crown planted along the perimeter of the park.

They are beautiful at any time of the year: in winter - by the imaginative pattern of strong branches, in spring - by the ready to open buds and funny palm-shaped leaves, in summer - by the luxurious flowering of large straight pyramidal inflorescences, in autumn - by their spherical spiny fruits.

In October, these fruits ripen and open, spilling out large, shiny brown seeds as if polished by an unknown carpenter. The seeds germinate in the spring and form shoots (see photo). In our latitudes, the horse chestnut blossoms at the end of June. But this year the spring was fast and the horse chestnut gave us its "candles" or "thyrses" already in mid-May.

 

I'd like to point out that horse chestnut, or buckeye, or Aesculus (Aesculus L.) is the name of a genus, not a species. Another important thing is that horse chestnut is not related to the "real" chestnut, the sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.), they belong to different families: sweet chestnut - to the family Betulaceae, and Aesculus - to the family Sapindaceae. The closest relatives of horse chestnut are maples. Interestingly, the Sapindaceae family includes several tropical plants we know from the supermarket: rambutan, lychee, guarana.

The horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) originates from the Balkan Peninsula, that's why, despite its adaptability and frost resistance, after hard frosty winters, frost wounds appear, which look like cracks in the trunk. Through them, fungal infections easily penetrate and shorten the life of the tree. How long does a horse chestnut grow? In warm climates they can grow up to 300 years. They can reach a height of 30 meters. I have no idea about life expectancy in temperate latitudes, but the height to which chestnuts grow in temperate climates is half less - 15 meters.

Horse chestnut seeds contain substances that help treat varicose veins, and they work in combination: flavonoids - strengthen blood vessels, coumarins - stimulate the formation of antithrombin, and saponins - reduce blood clotting. However, I should warn and note that it is not a good idea to use these seeds in self-treatment, use it only on doctor's prescription, because uncontrolled use of coumarins and saponins can cause harm rather than benefit, as they are toxic compounds.

Horse chestnut is also a good melliferous plant and an excellent air purifier. It removes exhaust fumes and dust from the air. And last but not least, its luxurious crown provides shelter from the scorching sun during the hot days of summer.