Horse Chestnut

Name: Horse Chestnut

Scientific name: Aesculus hippocastanum

Category: Trees and bushes

Nature Stars: 20

What are nature stars?

About: A tall, broad tree, planted in parks and gardens. Originally native to the mountains of northern Greece and Albania, the Horse Chestnut has been planted here since 1616.

How to identify: Instantly recognisable by the combination of the hand-shaped compound leaf, the pinky white spikes of flowers in the spring and the spiny-shelled fruit in the autumn which contain conkers.

Where: Widespread

Fantastic fact: The World Conker Championships are held at Ashton in Northamptonshire on the second Sunday in October every year.

Photograph credit: Philip Precey