Æ. Hippocàstanum, L. (Common Horse-chestnut.) Corolla spreading, white spotted with purple and yellow, of 5 petals; stamens declined; leaflets 7.—Commonly planted. (Adv. from Asia via Eu.)
1. Æ. glàbra, Willd. (Fetid or Ohio Buckeye.) Stamens curved, longer than the pale yellow corolla of 4 upright petals; leaflets usually 5.—River-banks, W. Penn. to Mich., Mo., Kan., and southward. June.—A large tree; the bark exhaling an unpleasant odor, as in the rest of the genus. Flowers small, not showy.
§ 2. PÀVIA. Fruit smooth; petals 4, conniving; the 2 upper smaller and longer than the others, with a small rounded blade on a very long claw.
2. Æ. flàva, Ait. (Sweet Buckeye.) Stamens included in the yellow corolla; calyx oblong-campanulate; leaflets 5, sometimes 7, glabrous, or often minutely downy underneath.—Rich woods, Va. to Ohio, Mo., and southward. May. A large tree or a shrub.
Var. purpuráscens, Gray. Calyx and corolla tinged with flesh-color or dull purple; leaflets commonly downy beneath.—From W. Va., south and westward.
3. Æ. Pàvia, L. (Red Buckeye.) Stamens not longer than the corolla, which is bright red, as well as the tubular calyx; leaflets glabrous or soft-downy beneath.—Fertile valleys, Va., Ky., Mo., and southward. May. A shrub or small tree.
2. SAPÌNDUS, L. Soap-berry.
Flowers regular, polygamous. Sepals 4–5, imbricated in 2 rows. Petals 4–5, with a scale at the base. Stamens 8–10, upon the hypogynous disk. Ovary 3-celled, with an ascending ovule in each cell. Fruit a globose or 2–3-lobed berry, 1–3-seeded. Seed crustaceous, globose.—Trees or shrubs, with alternate abruptly pinnate leaves, and small flowers in terminal or axillary racemes or panicles. (Name a contraction of Sapo Indicus, Indian soap, having reference to the saponaceous character of the berries.)
1. S. acuminàtus, Raf. A tree 20–60° high; leaflets 4–9 pairs, obliquely lanceolate, sharply acuminate, entire, 1½–3´ long; the rhachis of the leaf not winged; flowers white, in a large panicle, fruit mostly globose, 6´´ broad. (S. marginatus of authors, not Willd.)—S. Kan. to La., Fla., and Mex.