Few things I would like to add. 1. Esculentus means edible, hence Aesculus should mean non-edible. Going with Ms. Rashida's 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 softwares 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 Ms. Rashida 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 couldnt 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 secund. 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. Regards Pankaj On Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 1:12 AM, Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]> wrote: > Few things I would like to add. > > 1. Esculentus means edible, hence Aesculus should mean non-edible. > Going with Ms. Rashida's 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 softwares 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 Ms. > Rashida 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 couldnt 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 secund. > > 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. > > Regards > Pankaj > > > -- > *********************************************** > "TAXONOMISTS GETTING EXTINCT AND SPECIES DATA DEFICIENT !!" > > > Pankaj Kumar Ph.D. (Orchidaceae) > Research Associate > Greater Kailash Sacred Landscape Project > Department of Habitat Ecology > Wildlife Institute of India > Post Box # 18 > Dehradun - 248001, India > -- *********************************************** "TAXONOMISTS GETTING EXTINCT AND SPECIES DATA DEFICIENT !!" Pankaj Kumar Ph.D. (Orchidaceae) Research Associate Greater Kailash Sacred Landscape Project Department of Habitat Ecology Wildlife Institute of India Post Box # 18 Dehradun - 248001, India
