Japanese horse chestnut is in many ways similar to common horse chestnut and European horse chestnut, but is slower-growing and flowers in less profusion. The large leaves turn bright orange in autumn. Winter buds are red, glossy, and sticky. Leaves are compound and palmate, with 5 to 7 obovate, stalkless, toothed leaflets all attached at the same point at a central leaf stalk. [1]

Flowers are creamy-white with a red blotch, and are borne on upright panicles up to a foot tall in late spring. The fruit is a nearly spineless, egg-shaped yellow-green husk with 2 or 3 brown seeds (conkers) inside. A truly spectacular specimen tree, suitable for formal gardens or wide lawns, the Japanese horse-chestnut is tolerant of a wide range of soils, including alkaline.