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Aesculus indica
Also called Himalayan Horse Chestnut, Pangad
Aesculus indica is a deciduous Himalayan tree, usually 9 to 12 m tall, grown for its showy white spring flowers and large leaves. It needs a cool temperate climate with a cold winter, and it is not suited to hot or dry conditions.
Aesculus indica, commonly known as the Indian horse-chestnut or Himalayan horse chestnut, is a species of deciduous broad-leaved tree in the family Sapindaceae.
It is common along the Himalayan Lowlands, between Kashmir and Western Nepal at elevations between 900 and 3,000 metres. In the British Isles it is popular in many parks and estates where it was introduced in the mid-19th century. It is also found in many parts of the US. The commercial collection of its seeds for flour production seems to have impacted on the natural distribution of this species.
Its leaves are used as cattle fodder in parts of Northern India. Its seeds are dried and ground into a bitter flour, called tattawakher. The bitterness is caused by saponins, which are rinsed out by thoroughly washing the flour during its preparation. The flour is often mixed with wheat flour to make chapatis and also to make a halwa (Indian sweetmeat) and sometimes is served as a dalia, (a type of porridge or gruel) during fasting periods.
California buckeye · Yellow buckeye · Ohio buckeye · Horse-chestnut · Bottlebrush Buckeye · Red buckeye · Buckeyes & Horse-chestnuts
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Aesculus indica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
