fallen horse chestnut

[maverick]

I just discovered a fallen mature horse chestnut on the estate that I work on, must have come down last night.

The question I am asking besides having fire wood for the next 5 years
Does anyone have any idea what can horse chestnut be used for?
In a bushcraft sense that is.

 

[Scally]

while the leaves are green you could use them for a unscented soap scrub. To get those man made smells away from you and (know i am not saying you stink!)

 

[Toddy]

I get a good yellow dye from the bark and it's used in herbal medicine (blood thinner I think) that apart I have spinning wheel and chair made from the timber. This is very unusual since the timber is usually considered not fit for use for much beyond toys and packing crates. The wheel and chair are beautiful, but the man who made them for me said he'd an awful bother with the timber splitting. Chespale fencing is the more usual use for most of the timber.
Have a look and see if the inner bark comes away looking promising for fibre, would you? I use sweet chestnut for cordage and basketry but haven't tried the horse chestnut stuff at all.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Moonraker]

From PFAF database for Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum):

Should keep you busy. Or you could leave it as fallen wood for nature too

Edible Uses

Coffee; Seed.
The roasted seed is used as a coffee substitute[2, 7].

Seed - cooked. It can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a gruel[7, 46, 55, 61]. The seed is quite large, about 3cm in diameter, and is easily harvested. It is usually produced in abundance in Britain. Unfortunately the seed is also rich in saponins, these must be removed before it can be used as a food and this process also removes many of the minerals and vitamins, leaving behind mainly starch. See also the notes above on toxicity. The seed contains up to 40% water, 8 - 11% protein and 8 - 26% toxic saponins[218].

The following notes apply to A. californica, but are probably also relevant here:-

The seed needs to be leached of toxins before it becomes safe to eat - the Indians would do this by slow-roasting the nuts (which would have rendered the saponins harmless) and then cutting them into thin slices, putting them into a cloth bag and rinsing them in a stream for 2 - 5 days[213].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer
Alterative; Analgesic; Antiinflammatory; Astringent; Bach; Diuretic; Expectorant; Febrifuge; Haemostatic; Narcotic; Tonic; Vasoconstrictor; Vulnerary.

Horse chestnut is an astringent, anti-inflammatory herb that helps to tone the vein walls which, when slack or distended, may become varicose, haemorrhoidal or otherwise problematic[254]. The plant also reduces fluid retention by increasing the permeability of the capillaries and allowing the re-absorption of excess fluid back into the circulatory system[254]. This plant is potentially toxic if ingested and should not be used internally without professional supervision[254].

Alterative, analgesic, haemostatic and vulnerary[165, 218].

The bark is anti-inflammatory, astringent, diuretic, febrifuge, narcotic, tonic and vasoconstrictive[4, 7, 222]. It is harvested in the spring and dried for later use[4]. The plant is taken in small doses internally for the treatment of a wide range of venous diseases, including hardening of the arteries, varicose veins, phlebitis, leg ulcers, haemorrhoids and frostbite[238, 254]. It is also made into a lotion or gel for external application[254]. A tea made from the bark is used in the treatment of malaria and dysentery, externally in the treatment of lupus and skin ulcers[4, 222].

A tea made from the leaves is tonic and is used in the treatment of fevers and whooping cough[222, 240, 254].

The pericarp is peripherally vasoconstrictive[7].

The seeds are decongestant, expectorant and tonic[7, 21]. They have been used in the treatment of rheumatism, neuralgia and haemorrhoids[4]. They are said to be narcotic and that 10 grains of the nut are equal to 3 grains of opium[213].

An oil extracted from the seeds has been used externally as a treatment for rheumatism[254].

A compound of the powdered roots is analgesic and has been used to treat chest pains[257].

The buds are used in Bach flower remedies - the keywords for prescribing it are 'Failure to learn by experience', 'Lack of observation in the lessons of life' and hence 'The need of repetition'[209].

The flowers are used in Bach flower remedies - the keywords for prescribing it are 'Persistent unwanted thoughts' and 'Mental arguments and conversations'[209].

Other Uses

Dye; Soap; Starch; Tannin; Wood.
Saponins in the seed are used as a soap substitute[169]. The saponins can be easily obtained by chopping the seed into small pieces and infusing them in hot water. This water can then be used for washing the body, clothes etc. Its main drawback is a lingering odour of horse chestnuts[K]. The seed contains variable amounts of saponins, up to a maximum of 10%[240].

A starch obtained from the seed is used in laundering[100].

The bark and other parts of the plant contain tannin, but the quantities are not given[223].

A yellow dye is obtained from the bark[4].

The flowers contain the dyestuff quercetin[223].

Wood - soft, light, not durable. Of little commercial value, it is used for furniture, boxes, charcoal[2, 11, 46, 61].

 

[maverick]

Thanks moonraker that link will keep me busy alright lol

you could leave it as fallen wood for nature too

I agree, this is what I would normally do (I like building habitat piles) but this beasty has dropped in one of our car parks so has to be cleared.

see if the inner bark comes away looking promising for fibre, would you

I will have a look tommorow, I am playing with cordage at the moment ( mostly nettles) and I always wanted to try retting (if that is the word)so I have an ideal chance to try it

I have also found a home for the trunk the local village near me (caerleon) has a carving festival each year and they are glad to take it of my hands

 

[maverick]

Hi,
well I had my first go at stripping bark for cordage today and I don't know if I got it right so I will best discribe the process I used and if anyone could help me correct it please do.

Ok, first the tree

I had problems stripping the bark by lifting and pulling as ilustrated in one of rays books as the trunk was really mature.

I tried taking some bark from the branches near the top but they where all shapes, twisted and knotty so went to work on the trunk with a sharp edge
my bush buddy paul (commonly known as Tonto) having a go on a smaller limb!!

We found that if we scorred lines down throught the bark it was easier to pull it away from the tree

What is worrying me is that when i have seen other picture of people do this
the bark that they remove before retting seems alot thinner and more plyable So could somebody please clarrify if I am doing this right?

When I placed the stripped bark into a brook to begin retting I was quite shocked to see masses of blue fluid seeping from it

if Anyone knows how to extract the dye please let me know?

all I need to do know is wait two to three weeks to see if the retting has worked and then the fun begins. I am hoping to make enough cordage to tie on the front of the canoe I am building

 

[Stew]

Save yourself some of the wood for carving as well.

I once turned a bowl of Horse Chestnut and it had beautiful and subtle ripples.








My Dad has since dropped something heavy on it and smashed it!

 

[Toddy]

Not sure about the blue....but esculin is a fluorescent blue dye that is obtained form chestnut bark..... I wonder if that's what this is.

For yellow dye I break the bark up quite small and allow it to dry in net bags. When I want to use it I soak it over night in rainwater and boil it for maybe an hour or so the next day. Strain & use. Failing that it'd be worth trying it fresh, just roughly broken up and boiled. If you raise the temperature of a reaction by 10oC you half the time of the reaction, so leaving the dyebath to soak for a longer period works just as well as boiling for many dyestuffs. Fermentation isn't always a bad thing either, I get purple from elderberries if they're allowed to ferment before I use them, but a soft grey colour otherwise. If the chestnut bark does ferment it might help along the retting process, it does with willow cut out of season.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Marts]

Not sure about the blue....but esculin is a fluorescent blue dye that is obtained form chestnut bark..... I wonder if that's what this is.

For yellow dye I break the bark up quite small and allow it to dry in net bags. When I want to use it I soak it over night in rainwater and boil it for maybe an hour or so the next day. Strain & use. Failing that it'd be worth trying it fresh, just roughly broken up and boiled. If you raise the temperature of a reaction by 10oC you half the time of the reaction, so leaving the dyebath to soak for a longer period works just as well as boiling for many dyestuffs. Fermentation isn't always a bad thing either, I get purple from elderberries if they're allowed to ferment before I use them, but a soft grey colour otherwise. If the chestnut bark does ferment it might help along the retting process, it does with willow cut out of season.

Cheers,
Toddy

Toddy you just rock!!

 

[Moonraker]

When I placed the stripped bark into a brook to begin retting I was quite shocked to see masses of blue fluid seeping from it if Anyone knows how to extract the dye please let me know?

Great photos maverick

Well if you went downstream a little you may have caught your supper as one of the constituents of Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) is saponin, which is toxic to humans and is used as a fish poison (illegal in many countries)

Saponins normally break down in the digestive system and must enter the bloodstream to be toxic, but fish take in saponins directly into their bloodstream through their gills. The toxin acts on the respiratory organs of the fish without affecting their edibility. Saponins also cause the breakdown of red blood cells that help the toxin to spread quickly. Even though the effects of the poison are powerful, they are not usually fatal. Fish that are washed away into untainted water revive, and canreturn to their pre-toxic condition. Because of this, the fishermen would have to gather the stunned fish quickly as they floated to the surface.

source: http://www.survival.com/fish.htm

I doubt a few pieces of bark would have been enough and it generally does not kill the fish

According to 'A Modern Herbal' Mrs M. Grieve, a yellow dye is obtained from the bark. It also contains tannin. The blue coming from the bark in the brook looks like essential oils leaching out of the bark into the water (maybe the aescin which is a fatty acid), rather like petrol on a carpark puddle.