Hortus Botanicus Leiden, Netherlands

Common name: Japanse paardenkastanje, Japanese horse chestnut, トチノキ Tochi-no-ki

Family: Sapindaceae (Soapberry family)

Distribution: Japan

Hardiness: Zone 06

Life form: Tree

Comments: The Japanese horse-chestnut, planted in 1860, is native to the mountain forests in the north of the Japanese island Honshu and on the island Hokkaido, up to an altitude of around 2,000 metres. The shiny brown buds of the Japanese horse-chestnut are smaller than the buds of the White horse-chestnut. The leaves of this species are slightly smaller than the leaves of the White horse-chestnut, but otherwise the leaves are very similar. The flowers appear in May, usually somewhat later than those of the White horse-chestnut. They are smaller, looser panicles with cream-coloured flowers with a red blotch. The chestnuts of the Japanese horse-chestnut also have a spiky shell and are shiny dark-brown in colour when they fall out of it.