Bottlebrush buckeye
Aesculus parviflora
Also called Dwarf horse chestnut and Bottlebrush aesculus
Garden plant · ShrubsA horse chestnut that stays a shrub and suckers into a wide thicket — it needs five metres, not two. The white candles come in JULY, which is why it is worth the room; the nuts are as poisonous as a conker.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Easy
- Water
- Every 4 daysDrench and drain — water the whole surface until it runs from the holes.
- Light
- Sun to part shade
- Feed
- Every 45 days
- Humidity
- Average
- Hardiness
- Hardy — a cold winter RHS H5, to -15°C
- Size
- 3 m tall · 5 m across
- Lifecycle
- Shrub
- Origin
- South-eastern United States
Is it safe for pets and people?
Affects dogs, cats, horses. Signs: vomiting, diarrhoea, lethargy and loss of coordination; large amounts can cause tremors.
The nuts most of all, and the leaves and young shoots.
RHS category C — harmful if eaten. The nuts are conkers in miniature and are the part children pick up.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-09-22.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- A thicket five metres across where a two-metre shrub was planted, with suckers coming up in the lawn beyond it. This is the plant behaving normally; the mistake was the space, and it cannot be pruned back into one.Outgrowing its space · disorder
- Brown crisp margins on the big palmate leaves by August, on a plant in full sun or dry soil. It wants part shade and a moist root run.Scorched leaf edges · disorder