Rare Vietnamese tree flowers for the first time outside of its native country
In the words of our botanist, Tim Baxter; Aesculus wangii is a rare type of horse chestnut found on the mountainous slopes of Fan Si Pan mountain in Northern Vietnam. It grows to up to 30-5m tall and has striking palm-shaped leaves that are coloured burnished red in spring. It is reported to have conkers the size of tennis balls. It is a rarity in cultivation and it is threatened in the wild with forest clearance, especially due to clearance for cardamom production. It is often called a variety of the east indian horse chestnut, aesculus assamica, although the experts have debated it for some years! The plant at ness is believed to be the first of this species to flower in cultivation outside its native Vietnam.