Common chestnut tree

History

A young chestnut tree would have been introduced with Constantinople in 1557. The ambassador of the Holy roman Empire near the Othoman Door would have offered some to Charles of the Lock, ambassador with Vienna, in 1576, in the shape of a chestnut ready to germinate. Austria and probably by other ways, the chestnut tree would have diffused in Europe. It was introduced with Paris in 1615, by a certain Graduate, who would have brought back it Raising and planted in the court of the hotel of Soubise (or in the field of Templiers).

Charles of the Lock after Pierre Bellon would have acclimatized it by understanding that it had to be sown very early because the seed loses quickly its capacity of Germination. A subject planted in 1606 (400 years) is still visible in the park of a hotel with Vézac (Cantal) and another planted in 1790 (216 years) in High-Vienna (87) with St-Cyr.

Etymology

scientific Name: Aesculus was the Latin name of an edible oak with nipples. hippocastanum evokes the horse ( hippos ) and the Châtaigne ( kastanon ) because the chestnut seemed to be able to be given to the horses in minor amount. One of the English common nouns of chestnut is still horsechestnut , or chestnut of horse.

vernacular Name: the maroon word would come from the word Ligure mar meaning “stone”. Its smooth, round and hard fruit evokes indeed a stone. The maroon word seems to also be able to evoke the brown color of the fruit.

old Definitions: For the Dictionary of the French Academy of 1694 (1st edition), the word chestnut tree formerly indicated all the trees carrying of the chestnuts (of which chestnuts). The chestnut tree then indicated the cultivated varieties of the chestnut “whose fruits are larger than sweet chestnuts and edible”. The word “chestnut tree” also has until the 19th century at least, indicated the trade of roast chestnut salesman or cold.

The expression horse chestnut tree , appears in the 6th edition (1832) of the Dictionary of the French Academy which defines it as “large and beautiful tree”, “brought to France of Constantinople” and “whose flowers are in pyramidal bouquets, and whose fruit is bitter and bitter”. The Littré Dictionary of the French language (1872-1877) specifies that it belongs to the family of the hippocastanées , and that it “came to us from the Eastern India S, in 1615” (in fact probably imported by the company of the Indies, but coming from less further).

Description

It is large and beautiful a Arbre of ornament which can exceed the 300 years and measure up to 30 meters. The Sap, the Bug and the seed have a very particular odor and a very bitter taste.

The brown bark with slightly reddish is smooth at the young tree fissures in the direction length, sometimes in a helicoid movement around the trunk, and is scaled in is detached by small plates.

The Fleur S white or pink, stained of red, are gathered in thyrse S in form of Pyramide but the many variable ones exist.

The null and void Feuille S opposite, large (30-50 cm), are provided with a long petiole, webbed, to 5 or 7 notched leaflets.

The pointed bud S which appearing in Fall, are protected by a kind of resin strongly sticking.

The Fruit is a capsule coriace, roughcast points, which contains only one in general (sometimes two) large brown Graine, smooth and luisante, poison, called Horse chestnut.

Attention, the maroon S of the trade, to roast or used in confectionery, which are edible, are Châtaigne S, fruits of a variety of Châtaignier ( Castanea sativa ) to not partitioned Fruit S. They are thus not the fruits of the horse chestnut tree.

Distribution

As opposed to what think its vernacular name " could let; Chestnut tree of Inde" , this tree originates in the south-east of the Europe, with a surface ranging between the the Caucasus and the Balkans, including the Albania, the north of the Greece and the Asia Mineure. It pushes there naturally in forest mixed of Feuillu S, at an altitude from 700 to 1200 m, on rather acid ground. But it is probable that this gasoline had a surface of distribution much broader before the last Glacial period, of the older Pollen S having been found, of which in France. At the time of the last Glaciation, he would have survived in wet forests of the Balkans (Bulgaria, Albania, North of Greece).

Use

Its wood is not famous of quality for the Menuiserie, the Charpente or the Papier. It is like ornamental, and moindrement tree of alignment which it is used, for its dense foliage, its quite visible flowers, and of chestnuts formerly considered to be very exotic. True forest tree, it requires neither size, nor particular maintenance but it supports sometimes hard sizes. It rejects starting from the stocks, often without surviving. He is considered to be very resistant on the grounds which are appropriate to him (rather acid) but it is more sensitive to urban pollution and dehydration that the plane tree.

The Horse chestnut contains Amidon, Saponine S (aescine) and especially of the Glucoside S (aesculine, fraxine), which make it toxic. It is thus not recommended to give it to eat with the Bétail, although that was done in the past for the horses and bovines.

Pharmacopeia

One for a long time uses his bark rich in Tanin S and Flavonoïde S, his bark, his flowers and his chestnuts to draw some from the medicinal preparations. In Turkey, the chestnut reduced out of powder was considered to look after certain lung diseases. The chestnut seems to be used to look after the lung diseases of the horse.

An extract standardized in Escine (16% to 20%), but not containing a esculine (toxic anticoagulant) is marketed since the Sixties, manufactured starting from whole seed, because the flower, the sheet or the bark contain esculine. It treats the venous insufficiency and some turbid associated (heaviness and swelling of the legs, itchings, varixes, phlebitis, certain bruises, hémorroïdes (at the 18th century, the French produced an anti-hémorroïdaire extract). A study made on Rat S lets think that the standardized extract of horse chestnut tree would have a hypoglycémiant effect which could contribute to treat the Diabète. Certain extracts have an activity vitamin P, anti-hemorrhagic, which made them use in preparations intended to facilitate the Blood circulation.

Threats

The chestnut tree was formerly not very sensitive to the parasite S, even planted in alignment. It has been for a few decades victims of several pathologies which, without being always new, seem in certain areas and the cities to become increasing and alarming extensive.

Cameraria ohridella is a Insecte Lépidoptère ( Gracillariidae ) lately appeared in Europe whose common noun is Mineuse of the chestnut tree of India. This very small butterfly whose origin remains unknown was discovered in 1985 in Macedonia, from where it invaded Europe in less than 20 years. Its hollow caterpillar of the galleries in the sheets of chestnut tree, causing an early fall of the foliage and a weakening of the trees. An European project named CONTROCAM was launched on January 1st, 2001 by 8 partners: INRA (France), CSIOCB (Czech Republic), CABI (Swiss), UBW (Austria), UBERN (Swiss), UTRS (Italy), TEIK (Greece) and TUMUC (Germany - to see foot-note ) which coordinates the project. It aims to better knowing the mineuse one, its distribution, its ecology and its impacts (in urban environment and rural, like in Balkans, “nature”), and controlling them by means of integrated Fight.

FOOT-NOTE: the disappearance of the chestnut trees in Bavaria would be a national catastrophe because it became there the tree emblematic of the Biergarten.

- Page on the mineuse one, by the INRA

the chestnut tree is also touched by a mushroom, Guignardia aesculi, more commonly called Black belch . That causes a drying of the limb of the sheet, whose symptoms are reddish brown spots bordered of yellow on the foliage.

the urban chestnut trees are sometimes also infested cochineals.

the most recent disease is more the mortal, touches mainly some countries of the center of Western Europe. It is about a bacterial canker, initially allotted at an organization close to the mushrooms (Phytophthora), but which seems in fact produced by some variable particularly pathogenic of a common bacterium (Pseudomonas syringae).

For more information on pathologies of the chestnut tree, even the articles on the kind Aesculus and on Pseudomonas syringae .

It seems that these pathogenic develops especially on trees whose system racinaire is constrained, and at trees exposed to the stresses due to pollution or with the local anthropic modifications and total of the climate (respectively thermohygrometric disturbance of the couple downtown, and soft winters and hot and dry summers in moderate zone ).

Others

Horse chestnut says conker in English. The British invented the “Jeu of conkers” in which two players lay out each one of a chestnut carefully bored and retained at the end of a string. It is a question of destroying in less than 5 minutes chestnut of the adversary, by striking it with his. Each player is in turn “content” and “striker”. The striker strikes three times the chestnut of its adversary, then the roles are reversed, and so on, until destruction. This play, only applied to the autumn, is contaminating the continent. Regional, national and world competitions from now on are organized each year.

The site of the national university of Seoul was converted into park of approval in 1975, and bears the name of Parc Chestnut tree.

Other species

Aesculus pavia , the red Pavier;
Aesculus flava , the yellow Pavier (in the past Aesculus will octandra );
Aesculus californica , the Pavier of California;
Aesculus will glabra , the Pavier of Ohio;
Aesculus indica , the Chestnut tree of the Himalayas, “true” horse chestnut tree;
Aesculus xcarnea , the pink, hybrid chestnut tree of A. hippocastanum with A. pavia .

Cultivars and varieties

There exist Cultivar S and variety S with the characteristics interesting for the landscape designer but they are difficult to find, it will be necessary to be addressed to specialized nursery gardeners or seedbeds of collection:

Aesculus hippocastanum “Albovariegata” with the white mixed foliage
Aesculus hippocastanum 'Aureovariegata' with the yellow mixed foliage
Aesculus hippocastanum 'Baumanii' with the double flowers and which does not produce fruit
Aesculus hippocastanum “Contracted” with the pyramidal and compact port
Aesculus hippocastanum 'Digitata' with only three leaflets smaller than the standard species
Aesculus hippocastanum 'Globosum' with the round port
Aesculus hippocastanum “Hamptoncourt Gold” with the sheets yellowish green with débourrement the
Aesculus hippocastanum cv Henkelii: with the leaflets smaller and more cut out than the standard species
Aesculus hippocastanum “débourrement Incised” with the leaflets strongly and doubly toothed
Aesculus hippocastanum “Laciniaa” with the very cut out leaflets
Aesculus hippocastanum “Memmingeri” with the yellowish sheets with the
Aesculus hippocastanum “Praecox” which strips earlier than the standard species
Aesculus hippocastanum “Pyramidalis” with the pyramidal port
Aesculus hippocastanum 'Umbraculifera' with the dense port and rounded
Aesculus hippocastanum “Wisselink” which has the sheets which become yellow gold in summer

See too

Chestnut tree (journalism)

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