Aesculaceae

/ˌɛskjʊˈleɪsiːi/ noun

Definition

A family of flowering plants that includes the horse chestnut and buckeye trees.

Etymology

From Aesculus (the genus of horse chestnuts) plus -aceae (the Latin suffix for plant families). Named after the Roman physician Aesculapius, as the tree was believed to have medicinal properties.

Kelly Says

The Aesculaceae family connects ancient medicine to modern botany—Romans associated the horse chestnut with their god of healing Aesculapius, and today we still extract compounds from these trees for medicines.

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