This class of leaf is very common, as our horse-chestnuts, buckeyes, hickories, and walnuts all have compound leaves.
The horse-chestnut is not a native American tree, but was imported from Europe, where it is a great favorite. The leaflets number five or seven, always an odd number, and they radiate from one central point, the odd one in the center usually being the largest.
Fig. 98. The Horse-Chestnut
It is very interesting to watch these leaves as they come out of the sticky buds in the spring. They unfold and grow very rapidly and soon the tree brings forth large pyramidal clusters of beautiful flowers.
The large, neat brown nuts which come later in the season do not seem to be very useful, yet they are so solid and shiny that every boy delights to gather them.
An American tree closely resembling the horse-chestnut is the buckeye. The leaflets on the buckeye leaf number five, sometimes seven, and radiate like the horse-chestnut from a common center.
