The sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa), also known as the Spanish chestnut or European chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the temperate world. A substantial, long-lived deciduous tree, it produces an edible seed, the chestnut, which has been used in cooking since ancient times.

Castanea sativa attains a height of 20–35 metres with a trunk often 2m in diameter. Around 20 trees are recorded with diameters over 4m including one 7.5m in diameter at breast height. A famous ancient tree known as the Hundred Horse Chestnut in Sicily was historically recorded at 18m in diameter (although it has split into multiple trunks above ground). The bark often has a net-shaped pattern with deep furrows or fissures running spirally in both directions up the trunk. The trunk is mostly straight with branching starting at low heights. The oblong-lanceolate, boldly toothed leaves are 16–28 centimetres long and 5–9 cm broad.

The flowers of both sexes are borne in 10–20 cm long, upright catkins, the male flowers in the upper part and female flowers in the lower part. In the Northern Hemisphere, they appear in late June to July, and by autumn, the female flowers develop into spiny cupules containing 3–7 brownish nuts that are shed during October. The female flowers eventually form a spiky sheath that deters predators from the seed. The sweet chestnut cannot pollinate itself, making cross-pollination necessary. Some cultivars only produce one large seed per cupule, while others produce up to three seeds. The nut itself is composed of two skins and an edible, creamy-white part developed from the cotyledons.

Sweet chestnut trees live to an age of 500 to 600 years. In cultivation they may even grow as old as 1,000 years or more.

Wikipedia

There are two more of these trees in Taylor St. near the racecourse.