8. Chestnut tree

When European botanists discovered it in Constantinople in the 16th century, they thought that this unknown tree could not have come from anywhere other than the mythical Indies. They named it the "Horse Chestnut". It was only 50 years later that it was discovered that this magnificent tree originated in the mountains of Albania and Northern Greece.
As in Aigle, it is often found in school playgrounds. The red-flowered chestnut tree is used (as on the Avenue des Marronniers in Aigle) for alignments and walkways, because it produces few or no chestnuts, unlike the white-flowered variety, which is more common in school playgrounds.