Aesculus L.

Trees; branches spreading; bark greyish, warty outside, peeling off in narrow strips; young shoots pubescent to tomentose. Leaves opposite, digitate, deciduous, exstipulate; leaflets obovate or oblong, serrate. Flowers in terminal thyrses; polygamous. Sepals 5, campanulate or tubular. Petals 4 - 5, unequal, clawed, without scales, longer than the calyx. Disc annular, lobed or entire. Stamens 5 - 9, free, inserted in the disc. Ovary 3-locular; style slender. Fruits capsular, leathery, 1 - 3-loculed. Seeds subglobose.

America, Europe, S. E. Asia; ca 15 species, 2 in India.

KEY TO THE SPECIES

1a. leaflets thin, membranous, margins sharply serrate; panicles oblong

2. Aesculus indica

b. Leaflets coriaceous, margins feebly toothed or crenate; panicles lanceolate

1. Aesculus assamica

List of Lower Taxa