Common Name:
Buckeye
Horsechestnut
About 15 deciduous species of trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite, palmately compound, 5-11 leaflets, the middle leaflet often largest. Flowers white, yellow, pink or red in erect terminal clusters, calyx 5-lobed, 4-5 petals. Fruit smooth, scaly, or spiny, with 1-6 seeds, seed light or dark brown with a conspicuous lighter circular patch.
Aesculus: the classical Latin name for an oak with edible acorns, applied to this genus by Linnaeus.
Pronunciation:
ES-ku-lus
Family:
Hippocastanaceae (Horsechestnut Family)