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)

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