Aesculus hippocastanum, horse chestnut in Belfast Botanic Gardens

This is one of a series of short articles about trees in the Belfast Botanic Gardens compiled by the Friends group. The tree tag number relates to the black tree maintenance tags, usually fixed on the tree trunk, 2 to 3m above ground level.

Family: Sapindaceae

There are some significant specimens of horse chestnuts in Belfast Botanic Gardens. Along the western edge of the gardens (Colenso Parade) there are fine specimens of the white-flowered horse chestnut - the conker tree of childhood. This tree is native to Greece and was introduced into Western Europe some time after 1600.

In the area to the side of the Tropical Ravine is a collection of the red horse chestnuts. Most of these are probably the hybrid H. x carnea. This is a cross between the white horse chestnut and the red buckeye (A. pavia). Other Aesculus species may be seen elsewhere in the Gardens and are the subject of a separate entry.

Horse chestnuts in the UK are currently under threat from two new diseases, one of which is a bleeding canker caused by a Phytophora fungus similar to that causing the sudden oak death and the other is a leaf miner. This is not lethal, but probably reduces the vigour of the tree making it more susceptible to the bleeding canker

Belfast Botanic Gardens Tree Archive