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Aesculus assamica Griff., Not. Pl. Asiat. 4: 540 1854. (syn. Aesculus chuniana Hu & Fang; Aesculus khassyana C.R.Das & Majumdar; Aesculus lantsangensis Hu & Fang; Aesculus megaphylla Hu & Fang; Aesculus polyneura Hu & Fang; Aesculus polyneura var. dongchuanensis X. W. Li & W. Y. Yin; Aesculus punduana Wall. ex Hiern; Aesculus rupicola Hu & Fang; Aesculus wangii Hu; Aesculus wangii var. rupicola (Hu & Fang) W. P. Fang; Pavia khassyana Voigt; Pavia punduana Wall. ex Voigt; Pawia punduana Kuntze);
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E. Himalaya to China (W. Guangxi) as per POWO;
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China (W-Guangxi, S-Guizhou, Yunnan), SE-Tibet, Bangladesh, Sikkim, N-Vietnam, Bhutan, India (Darjeeling, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya), Thailand, Myanmar [Burma] (Kachin, Mandalay, Shan), Laos as per Catalogue of Life;
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Common name: East Himalayan Horse Chestnut • Assamese: Raman bih • Garo: Bol rimmu, Bol rimot • Khasi: Dieng dula, Dieng
sangkenrop .
It (A. assamica) differs from A. indica in subcoriaceous (vs. submembraneous) leaves, longer central leaflet 20-40 cm long (vs. 12-22 cm long), broader 6-12 cm broad (vs. 4-7 cm broad), petiole 18-30 cm long (vs. 7-15 cm long), petals white and yellow (vs. white and yellow with red markings and patches).
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Fl. Pakistan does not mention the presence of A. indica in NE India…rather till Nepal.
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         Unknown tree-2 collected from Kamrup district, Assam : 9 images. 6 posts by 5 authors.
Attached images are Unkwon tree collected from Kamrup district, Assam. Please ID the plant species. Date :.09.03.2013
Location: Kamrup district Family : unknown Genus & species : unknown Habitat: Grows wild on. Habit : Tree
Inflorescence : length about 45 cm.
Flower : Yellow, scented Fruits : Not seen Aesculus indica. Hippocastanaceae Indian horse chestnut. I could not find any relevant literature but wonder if somebody could differentiate A. indica from A. assamica. Both of them look so close. Requesting … to have a look into the Flora of Assam by Kanjilal and let us know if any key is given there to differentiate between these two. Fl. Pakistan does not mention the presence of A. indica in NE India…rather till Nepal. Yes doubts seem to be genuine. It could well be A. assamica as A. indica is distributed in Western Himalayas. A. assamica Griff. is the correct name for tree earlier known as A. punduana Wall. (in FBI) and as A. khasyana Das and Majumdar, 1960 (an illegitimate name).
It differs from A. indica in subcoriaceous (vs. submembraneous) leaves, longer central leaflet 20-40 cm long (vs. 12-22 cm long), broader 6-12 cm broad (vs. 4-7 cm broad), petiole 18-30 cm long (vs. 7-15 cm long), petals white and yellow (vs. white and yellow with red markings and patches). Distribution and flower colour point to A. assamica. Yes it differ from A.indica. The discussion is becoming interesting. Would like to know more.
Sapindaceae Fortnight :: Aesculus assamica Griff. from Assam-Jan 2014 : Attachments (9). 2 posts by 2 authors. Attached images are Aesculus assamica Griff. from Assam. Thanks … for this beautiful upload, I think this is endemic to the area… I need id assistance of Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Saptaparni’ plant (tree) at Mongpu, Darjeeling. DSCN9463, 9467 are of Hippocastanaceae, genus- Aesculus. Two species are known in India and differentiated as (based on Pant 2000): Again many many thanks for you id assistance, especially R.N. Tagore’s ‘Saptaparni Plant’ did Robi thakur really mean this one ? LETS ASK … I think his chhatim gaachh is Alstonia scholaris.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstonia_scholaris by the way alstonia scholris planting in streets has increased due to very cheap seedling available in the forrestry dept nurseries
its misguided notion to plant these in such huge numbers
its pollen is the cause of countless thousands and thousands of people dsuffering from headaches migraines and sever sinusitis during the flowering season
its a public health hazard
now we know for sure long term repeated allergic responses equals inflammatory mediators in the blood and brain and tissues… log term effect of inflammatory mediators is early aging, vasculitis, heart and brain problems and even many cancers have inflammation as the starting point because of the oxygen radicals …cancer somewhere in the body.
If any of our members have any influence with the civic bodies in your area please try to reduce planting of these trees.
Robi thakur did not have many of these on his ancestral property
we see only one…
only one
that he used to sit and meditate under
most likely not during the pollen season !
he was a smart guy
not going to jeopardize his own health!! think his chhatim gaachh is Alstonia scholaris. It is not Alstonia scholaris, it belongs to free petal family. Leaves are palmately compound, In Alstonia i is simple leaf in whorl phyllotoxy. It Aesculus species only. Aesculus fruit (Indian horse chest nut) is used in medicine. … is correct. It is not Alstonia, it is Aesculus sp. Aesculus assamica Aesculus assamica Griff. (HIPPOCASTANACEAE)
Distrib.: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and West Bengal.
Leaf size 30cms approx
Petiole -40cms
Leaf edge entire
Palmate – 7 leaves
Correction : Pls read the fruit shape as obovate.
Is it from is from Anacardiaceae? Aesculus by any chance? Family Sapindaceae. This Jaipur is creating problems. … please write Joypur (Assam) in your communications. My first reaction was also Aesculus indica but kept quite when I read Jaipur, a hot tropical area in Rajasthan. Aesculus indica. …, are the fruits edible? I have seen the fruits sold by tribals near Dombivli railway station. If it is the same plant then I don’t think it should be edible as the fruits of one of the species of Aesculus (Aesculus hippocastanum) are considered to be poisonous for horse. Its called HORSE CHEST NUT. Used in poisoning horse food. The fruits looks like chikoo and watery on surface. I am confused between Aesculus indica and A. assamica. Can u pl throw some light on it??
Here are the main differences:
A. indica A. assamina
Petiole 7-15 cm long Petiole 18-30 cm long
Terminal leaflet 12-25 cm, 4-7 cm broad Terminal leaflet 20-35 cm long, 6-12 cm broad
Leaves submembranous Leaves subcoriaceous
Fruit 3.5-4.5 cm long Fruit 4.5-5 cm long
Place and long petiole should confirm it as Aesculus assamica
As per your description, the leaf edge is entire. But in DSC_4249a the leaf margin appears to me as Crenulate. Fruits are also not prickly or verrucose. So I suppose this plant to be Aesculus assamica (Hippocastanaceae). I shall also go with Aesculus indica Adding some info. from ‘A pictorial guide to the plants of the Indian sub-continent’ by Aima- wherein both the species of Aesculus assamica, Griff. and Aesculus indica, Colebr. are described. In Etymology on pg 8 & pg 16 it is mentioned that Aesculus is from Greek esca – meaning food; refering to the food value of the kernels- as a flour was ground from the Kernels of some of the species; assamica refers to Assam, similarly indica refers to India. A.assamica Griff. is described as a large deciduous tree with a hemispherical crown. Bark deep brown shining with irregular patches of grey -brown. Leaves digitately compound, leaflets upto 30 cm long, obtusely serrulate. Fruit a large leatherly capsule, 2-3 valved, seed solitary, 2.5- 3.5 cm across, testa hard shining. Distribution is mentioned as North-eastern region of India. Bark employed as a fish poison. Seeds yield a fatty oil.
A. indica Colebr. is described as a large deciduous tree, trunk short, attaining a large girth. wood white, soft Buds scaly. Leaves opposite, digitate, leaflets 5-9, the central ones largest, acuminate, sharply serrate.Fruit a capsule. Seeds exalbuminous, dark brown, smooth shining. Cotyledons thick, fleshy. Distributionis N.W. Himalaya 4000-9000 ft. Kullu, Chamba, Kumaon, Tehri- Garhwal, and Kashmir. Leaves and twigs are used as fodder. Fruits edible. Wood is also used for mathematical scales and packing cases.
After going through the comparison and having seen in flowering stage A. assamica at Shillong, I think this one is A. assamica although a close up of the bark would help in this case. Few things I would like to add. 1. Esculentus means edible, hence Aesculus should mean non-edible.
Going with … explaination also if ESCA means food, A -ESCA should mean “NOT A FOOD” in other words ‘POISONOUS’. But there are ways to cook poisonous plants and animals and Japanese along with Chinese are known to excel it and even some indian tribals may excel and they might have passed it over to others. 2. There are two Aesculus indica of which the first one below is invalid according to ICBN. Secondly Aesculus indica has two more varieties, A. i. var. sydney and A. i. var. concolor and obviously A. i. var indica.
a. Aesculus indica Colebr. ex Wall. Numer. List [Wallich] n. 1181.1829 (INVALID)
b. Aesculus indica (Wall. ex Jacquem.) Hook.f. Bot. Mag. 85: t. 5117.1859 [1 May 1859]
Syn: Pavia indica Wall. ex Jacquem. Voy. Inde [Jacquemont] 4: 31. 1844. I am attaching few pictures of herbarium sheets from Kew. The size of the digital herbarium is equal to the size of the sheet (297 mm x 420 mm) so by putting the pic at 100% and using some scale on the screen you can take measurements. There is a software too to measure distance between two points on pictures.
Anyways, only difference which is evident to me is of longer petiole (comparatively) in A. assamica. Hence with longer petiole in mind the present picture shared n the thread should be of A. assamica as … claims. At the same time eflora of China says leaflets usually petiolulate in A. assamica of 0.5 – 1.5 cm. Which is evident in the picture. The two illustrations provided by them seems to differ. But frankly, I couldn’t come to any conclusion with all these.
Description from eflora of China for Aesculus assamica:
Trees to 32 m tall, to 0.6 m d.b.h. Branchlets glabrous, subglabrous, or puberulent when young. Petiole 8-30 cm, glabrous, subglabrous, or puberulent; leaf blade 5-9-foliolate; petiolules 0.3-1.5 cm (leaflets rarely subsessile), glabrous, subglabrous, or sparsely puberulent and dark glandular when young; leaflet blades oblong-lanceolate to oblong-oblanceolate, rarely lanceolate to oblanceolate or narrowly so, (7-)12-35(-42) × (3-)5-18 cm, abaxially glabrous, or puberulent or pilose on veins when young, base cuneate or broadly so or rounded, margin crenulate to serrulate, apex acuminate to caudate; lateral veins in 17-30 pairs. Inflorescence pale yellow puberulent; peduncle 7-13 cm; thyrse cylindric, (22-)27-45 cm, 5-14 cm wide at base; branches 2-7 cm, 3-11-flowered; pedicels 3-7 mm. Flowers fragrant. Calyx 4-8 mm, abaxially gray or pale yellowish gray puberulent or finely gray velutinous. Petals 4, white or pale yellow, with purple or brown spots, sometimes orange toward base or claw reddish, unequal, 2 spatulate to oblong and 2 oblong-obovate or obovate, 13-22 × 3-7 mm, abaxially gray puberulent or velutinous. Stamens 5-7, 18-40 mm; filament glabrous; anther 1.5-3 mm. Style glabrous, subglabrous, sparsely puberulent, or tomentose. Capsule yellowish brown, ovoid to obovoid, subglobose, or depressed globose, 4.5-5 × 3-7.5 cm, dotted but smooth; pericarp 1.5-2 mm thick after drying. Seed usually 1, brown, globose, subglobose, or depressed globose, 3-7 cm in diam.; hilum white, occupying ca. 1/2 (rarely ca. 1/3) of seed. Fl. (Jan-)Feb-May, fr. Jun-Nov.
Aesculus indica from Flora of British India
Leaflets usually 7 acuminate delicately serrate submembraneous distinctly petioluled, panicles oblong nearly equalling or exceeding the leaves, flowers second.
Further: A fine tree of 60-70 feet in height and 10-15 inch in girt, with glabrous terete branches. Leaves glabrous; leaflets unequal, the terminal one 5-9 by 1.5 – 3 inch, the lateral ones smalled; common petiole 3-6 inch, thickened at the base, sulcate above; petiolules ranging to 5/6 inch. Calyx tubular, 1/3 inch long, frequently splitting as the flowers open; lobes short, rounded. Petals 4, white with red and yellow, the place of the fifth vacant. Capsule ovoid or subpyriform, reddish-brown, without spines, rather rough, 1-2 inch, long. Seed dark. The interior of the seeds es eater in Himalayas according to Dr. ROyle, in time of famine, cattle habitually eat them. The dark peels off in long strips; the wood is light coloured and easily worked. The fruit is officinal, being applies externally for rheumatism. The leaves are lopped for winter fodder in the Himalaya.
Found this from WIKIPEDIA for Aesculus hippocastanum, may be applicable to other species too, but cant be sure:
The nuts, especially those that are young and fresh, are slightly poisonous, containing alkaloid saponins and glucosides. Although not dangerous to touch, they cause sickness when eaten. Some mammals, notably deer, are able to break down the toxins and eat them safely. They are reputed to be good for horses with wind, but this is unproven and feeding them to horses is not advisable. The saponin aescin (a complex mixture of triterpene glycosides), however, has been used for health purposes (such as varicose veins, edema, sprains) and is available in food supplements, as is the coumarin glucoside aesculin. .
Attaching a few images of Aesculus assamica. The images were taken at Rajabhatkhawa forest (North Bengal) on 19-4-21. |
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