The tree with a gnarled trunk
growing across the road from Morrill Hall.
Native to south-west
Asia and the Balkan Peninsula, the horse chestnut was introduced to the
US in colonial times and now grows throughout the country. The horse chestnut
is not a "chestnut" at all, but a relative of the native Ohio buckeye. The horse chestnut
is our largest non-native, spring-flowering tree, reaching a height and
spread of 50 to 75 feet. The leaves are palmately-compound, consisting of
5 to 7 leaflets. The showy flowers are produced in May and June in large,
upright panicles.
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