Horse Chestnut

I am rarely in a position to photograph the inflorescence of the chestnut at close quarters; a tree with a low-hanging branch, close to the bus stop, allowed this capture of a single floret. They are surprisingly detailed when viewed individually, described (in my recent purchase at the Christian Aid Booksale - though I do have other tree books) as a bell-shaped calyx with five lobes, supporting five separate petals, pure white in colour, but splashed and dotted with crimson and yellow towards the base of the upper ones, to indicate the way to the honey-glands. There are seven stamens and in their midst a longer, curved style proceeding from a roundish ovary with three cells.


Often confused, the Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) and the Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) are not related and neither is native to Britain.