Hosechestnut is easy to identify any time of year -- look for huge, sticky, brown buds and spiny fruits in fall and winter and in spring, prominent 6" - 12" tall pyramidal clusters of creamy white flowers that sit atop the branches, as seen here.  But it's the leaves that are a dead give-away: horsechestnut is the only tree on campus that has palmately compound leaves (click here for more on leaf arrangement and scroll down to "leaf types". Bark is medium gray to brown, breaking into shallowly fissured irregular plates as it ages.  The round, hard, shiny brown seeds are enclosed in a spiny, 2"-3" capsule and mature in the fall.  Generally grows to 50'-75', but entirely capable of surpassing 100'.  One last identification feature - horsechestnuts reliably suffer from leaf scorch as the weather turns hot and dry, usually around late July.  An important food source for squirrels and deer.

The tree pictured here is growing north of Murkland hall.  Other horsechestnut locations are: east side of Hetzel hall, southeast of C-lot, north side of Schofield House and northeast of Figment hall.

Hosechestnut is native to Greece, Albania and thought to be native to India.