Saint Donatus Park. The horse chestnut, thanks to the Fleming Gisleen van Busbeke

In the park, many horse chestnuts were planted, a typical park tree that especially shone in spring with its large flowers.

The white (or common) horse chestnut is native to the Balkan Peninsula and Anatolia. We know that the tree was already planted as an ornamental tree in Turkish Constantinople in 1557. They were impressed by the tree's magnificent mass of flowers. In the mid-16th century, the Fleming Ogier Gisleen van Busbeke (Latinized to Busbequius), who was an envoy in the service of the German emperor to the Ottoman sultan, brought the tree to Western Europe. In 1572, the first tree was introduced and planted in the gardens of Vienna. He also brought the lilac and several bulbous plants, including the tulip, here. The first tree in the Netherlands was planted in the Leiden Hortus in 1608 by the Fleming Clusius, who was associated with the garden as a curator. From these Leiden and Vienna, the tree was further spread throughout Northern Europe. The reason we find the tree in parks, avenues, and near monumental buildings, castles, and churches is not hard to guess. The tree provides beautiful inflorescences 20 cm tall in spring, cooling shade in summer, and stunning yellow colors in autumn.

Jan Rymenams