Aesculus indica Seeds | Indian Horse Chestnut
LATIN NAME: Aesculus indica
COMMON NAME: Indian Horse Chestnut
Plant Profile
The Indian horse chestnut is a large deciduous tree of twenty to thirty metres, with five to seven leaflets and upright panicles of white flowers that carry a yellow blotch which turns red as the flower ages. It grows from Afghanistan to Nepal, between a thousand and three thousand metres.
The seed is eaten in Kashmir after a long process of leaching, and in a poor year it has been a famine food. The tree is planted along roads and in gardens in the hill stations, where its spring flower and its deep shade are valued more than its timber. The bark is grey and scaly, and the tree casts a dense shade that keeps grass from growing beneath it.
Science & Biotechnology
The colour change in the flower is a signal to pollinators. A yellow blotch marks a flower with nectar; when the nectar is exhausted the blotch turns red and bees pass it by, which directs traffic to the flowers that still have something to offer and improves the efficiency of the visit.
The seed contains aescin and other saponins, and the Kashmiri method of preparing it is a study in applied chemistry: the kernels are ground, tied in cloth and washed in running water for several days, then dried and milled. The saponins foam away, the starch stays, and the resulting flour is cooked as a gruel or mixed with wheat.
Uses & Benefits
The processed flour is eaten in Kashmir as a staple in times of scarcity, and the raw seed is never eaten. The tree is also grown for its timber, which is soft and used for packing cases rather than for furniture, and for its shade in tea gardens.
The flowers are visited by bees and the tree is a minor honey source in the hill districts. In cultivation it is planted as an ornamental in Britain and in the Pacific Northwest, where it flowers in June, later than the European horse chestnut and after the worst of the frost.
Growing from Seed
Sow the seed in autumn, since it is recalcitrant, and keep the pot cool and moist through winter. The radicle emerges first and the shoot may not appear until spring, so do not disturb the pot. A deep container is needed, because the root goes down fast.
Plant out in deep, moist soil in a position with room for a crown of ten metres. The tree dislikes hot dry summers and scorch on the leaf edges is common in shallow chalk. Water the first three seasons, and expect flowers at fifteen years rather than at five. Seed collected from trees in the dry inner valleys germinates better than seed from the wet outer ranges, and the seedlings are harder.
Our Take
A Himalayan tree that feeds people in a bad year and shades them in a good one, and a fine flowering specimen where summers are cool. Not a tree for a small plot.
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