Hortus Botanicus Leiden, Netherlands

Common name: Witte paardenkastanje

Family: Sapindaceae (Soapberry family)

Distribution: M.-Balkan, Bulgarije

Life form: Tree

Comments: The Horse chestnut is native to the Balkans. Our specimen, planted in 1841, has grown into a large, wide and full tree. Horse chestnuts sometimes grow up to 30 metres tall and can have a very thick trunk. In spring the thick buds are covered in sticky scales. When these fall off, the white, densely downy young shoots appear. These grow into large, palmately compound leaves. In May, the “candles” appear at the end of the young branches; large panicles with many beautiful white flowers with a red blotch. Unfortunately, many horse chestnuts suffer greatly from the horse-chestnut leaf-miner, a leaf-mining moth that damages the trees’ health.