''Aesculus'' (Carnea Group) 'Pendula', or Weeping Red Horse Chestnut, is a

weeping tree Weeping trees are trees characterized by soft, limp twigs. This characterization may lead to a bent crown and pendulous branches that can cascade to the ground. While weepyness occurs in nature, most weeping trees are cultivars. Because of their ...

and a

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

of the ''Aesculus'' Carnea Group, the Red Horse Chestnut Group, which is a cultivar group of artificial hybrids between

Aesculus pavia ''Aesculus pavia'', known as red buckeye or firecracker plant (formerly ''Pavia rubra''), is a species of deciduous flowering plant. The small tree or shrub is native to the southern and eastern parts of the United States, found from Illinois to ...

and A. hippocastanum.Govaerts, R., Michielsen, K. & Jablonski, E. (2011). Untraced Weeping Broadleaf cultivars: an overview.
Belgische Dendrologie Belge
'' 2009: 19-30. The name first appeared in the 1902 edition of the Hand-list of Trees and Shrubs of the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

without description. A small number of these cultivars are now known to survive.

Description

with a leader and with arching branches. Young plants are reported not to be weeping. The weeping shape only seems to appear when older. It may be that this is not a true weeping cultivar as older Horse Chestnuts often display arching branches.

Accessions

This cultivar was previously recorded as not having been cultivated outside of England, but they now appear to have been thriving all these years in the Tayside Region of Scotland. They do not seem to have been widely cultivated, but more than 10 of these trees are now known to have survived ( the first being recognised/rediscovered on the 18th September 2020 in Arbroath.)

Synonymy

*''Aesculus'' × ''carnea'' var. pendulum A.Henry (1907)

References

Aesculus Weeping trees Extinct cultivars {{tree-stub ^ Graham Brown (3 June 2023). Angus Plantsman Joe conquers mystery of Weeping Red Chestnut feared extinct for a Century. The Courier. Dundee. Retrieved from the original 19 November 2023.