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Walking through a friends garden in autumn I picked up a few of these because it has been a long time since I germinated any conkers.
Life is as whimsical as that sometimes.
They germinated easily and have grown strongly. I am becoming fond of Horse Chestnuts just as the fungal disease and leaf miner moth
start to devastate them. I had been told that the Japanese Horse Chestnut was resistant to damage and thought that these might replace the
common species in the garden. In summer this year I revisited the parent tree, and it is covered with damaged brown leaves
so the species is clearly not immune. A dozen years after they germinated I still haven't planted the last survivor in the garden - I can't think of a space. If I don't get around to it soon it will be too late. Writing in 'The Plantsman' in 1984, David Wright said: "Japan; at altitudes up to 1,675m (5,500 ft) on the main island and in Hokkaido. A fine species, said to achieve 24 to 30m in the wild (80 - 100ft) a trunk 6m in girth (20ft). It has attained 21m (70ft) or more in cultivation. Aesculus turbinata much resembles our common horse chestnut and could, perhaps, be considered its Far Eastern representative. It differs, however, in certain characters. Winterbuds very resinous; leaves resembling those of A. hippocastanum and composed of 5 to 7 sessile leaflets but more regularly toothed, and tapering far less abruptly at ther apices. The flowers, creamy white, with a pale yellow central blotch, are smaller than those of A. hippocastanum and appear 2 or 3 weeks later. Fruits, rough but spineless, top-shaped or turbinate - hence the specific name of the species." Trees and Shrubs online says: "Native of Japan up to 5,500 ft on the main island and in Hokkaido (Yezo). It is very similar in general appearance to A. hippocastanum, but hitherto has grown much more slowly. It is distinguishable by the different toothing of the leaf, still more so, of course, by the pavia-like fruits. Elwes says that the timber of this tree, although lacking strength, often shows a wavy figure, and is used in Japan for house fittings and articles of domestic use. |
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| 24th September 2011 | ||
