Indian Horse Chestnut

Related to the familiar, naturalised horse chestnut, Aesculus indica was brought to this island from the Himalaya in the mid-19th century. A large, deciduous tree, it is smaller, and has a rather more open habit than the horse chestnut. The tree is covered with huge ‘candles’ of creamy-pink flowers in mid-summer, an invaluable nectar-source for bees. These are followed in autumn by masses of green fruit, smoother than the horse chestnut’s, which split to reveal ‘conkers’. The leaves are large, and divided into oblong leaflets; bronze when young, they turn glossy green in summer and yellow in autumn. The Indian Horse Chestnut makes a good specimen tree for parks or large gardens, and grows well even on chalky soils.